Heavy Winds Cause Damage In Box Elder County

WILLARD, Utah – Of all the things someone could get from their neighbor, Buffy Halliday never thought she would get a carport.

“We heard something slam into the house,” she said. “So we just got up and started checking and found it out here.”

Heavy winds early Tuesday morning throughout Box Elder County dropped the carport on her property.

“It went up over their house, broke their chimney and stuff, and then hit into our house,” said Halladay.

A little down the road, Ryan Thurgood was busy removing all the trees that came down in the wind.

“They were like spears hitting the house,” said Thurgood. “They were hitting the garage and everything. It was crazy.”

The wind was so strong, it even peeled the metal roof halfway off a barn in town.

For as big as Box Elder County is, though, the Willard area was hit hardest.

And the Hot Springs Mobile Home Park in South Willard may have the most damage.

The cleanup continues in Box Elder County. We’ll have a live report coming up in our @KSL5TV 6pm newscast. #ksltv pic.twitter.com/lZhjybEidp

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) September 8, 2020

“It sounded like machine guns going off,” said Todd Farr, who lives at Hot Springs. “Branches were popping and carrying on and it just shot the roof right off. It was like a hurricane.”

Old trees that took decades to grow snapped in no time.

Those fallen trees crunched roofs and smashed onto cars.

“All you can do is cry, but what good does that do?” said Farr.

The wind also knocked down power poles and lines forcing U.S. Highway 89 to close for a time so crews could clean debris.

But for all the damage, no one was injured.

“No one was hurt, thank goodness,” said Halladay. “All this can be fixed.”

Even though you can predict the weather, you never know what that weather might bring.

Sometimes wind, sometimes rain — and sometimes a carport.

“You know, what happens, happens,” said Halladay with a laugh. “We’ll be prepared this time.”