Weekend storms impact some parts of county but don’t faze Noah’s turkeys

The storms that swept through some parts of Ozark County Saturday and Sunday washed out several dirt roads west of Thornfield, caused delays in the annual Docktoberfest fundraiser event in Pontiac, knocked out power just over the county line in Protem and wreaked havoc around at least one Howards Ridge home. Yet other areas of the county seemed to have remained untouched. And two domestic turkeys who rode out the Howards Ridge storm atop the roof of their old chicken house at the Goodman family’s home seemed unconcerned about the chaos that swirled around them. 

Western Ozark County Commissioner Layne Nance said at Monday’s commissioners meeting that some roads were washed out in the Longrun area, west of Thornfield. Pond Fork, a creek west of D Highway, “came down big,” Nance said.

But on the other side of the county, Bryant Creek at Hodgson Mill “wasn’t even cloudy” Monday morning, said Eastern District Commissioner Gary Collins.

In the Protem area, White River Valley Electric Co-op said late Sunday afternoon in a Facebook post that power had been restored to “just under 100 members” after a tree blown over in the storm took down a utility pole.

No damage was reported at Pontiac, southwest of Gainesville, but the unexpected thunderstorm Saturday interrupted the music at Docktoberfest, the annual celebration at Lake Bums Brew Co, off W Highway, that serves as a fundraiser for the annual Pontiac fireworks show. Jabet Wade, whose family owns the craft brewery as well as nearby Pontiac Cove Marina, said the first of the three bands scheduled to perform delayed its start by 30 minutes, until 2 p.m. because of rain. 

The band, One More Dollar, played for about a half hour, “and then the severe thunderstorm warning came across, so we buttoned everything up and waited it out,” Wade said. “We had heavy, heavy rain – and hail!” 

But the storm passed, and the band moved from the outdoor stage to a covered patio and finished their set. 

“The sun came out, and it ended up being a beautiful day,” Wade said, adding that the two other scheduled bands performed on stage, and a “great crowd” was on hand to enjoy the event and help with the fundraiser. 

The next evening, another fast-moving storm startled Amanda Goodman about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in her family’s Howards Ridge home off J Highway. 

“I had just gotten out of the shower and was sitting on my bed and heard stuff hitting the window. And in a matter of seconds, it got worse and worse. The wind was roaring,” Amanda said. 

Her husband, John, wasn’t home, but their four children were there with her: Shelbie, 17; Noah, 15; Clara, 14; and Charlotte, 11. 

The girls told Amanda they saw leaves swooshing around. Then they all heard a loud noise. 

“I can’t describe it,” she said. “It was . . . I thought, ‘What in the world?’ And then we realized, oh my gosh, it was Noah’s building. I had bought a little metal shed from Lowes that Noah used for his workshop. The girls saw it roll by the windows.”

The metal shed tumbled across the backyard and ended up about 40 feet away, where it hit the well house. The kids’ trampoline also blew over and ended up about 60 feet away. “It landed up by the road, snapped in half,” Amanda said.

The family also had an above-ground pool that had not yet been drained and stored for the winter. “I thought it surely had enough water in it so it wouldn’t be blown away, but somehow it got caved in, and one of the support legs twisted and snapped, and it collapsed,” she said.

While some of the things in the backyard were destroyed, the family was relieved to see that Noah’s little flock of feathered friends remained unscathed. “We have one sturdy chicken coop and one that’s older. The chickens were in their coop, the sturdy one, and they were all OK. Noah’s little bantam rooster, Jack – he sleeps with the dogs, and they were all fine,” she said. 

Amazingly, Noah’s two hen turkeys, Bertha and Hennifer, also survived without injury. They like to roost outside on top of the older chicken coop, Amanda said. “We went out there, and the trampoline is up by the road, and the shed is gone, and the turkeys are just sitting there, looking at us, like, ‘What?’ They acted like it was all no big deal,” she said, laughing.

 

Ozark County Times

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