Winds of more than 60 miles per hour whipped through parts of West Texas yesterday, Tuesday, December 8th, doing damage to structures and even the community's 50 foot tall Christmas tree at Starbright Village.
I first learned of the winds when my mother, who is learning to text on her cell phone, sent me a message stating her neighbor's barn had blown over the fence into her back yard. The story to air on CBS7 News at 10pm.
She said she called the tv station after she saw it happen and they came to film and interviewed her. (She thought to do that because I used to work at CBS 7 news for a long time).
Here's my mom, Mary Ashley:
Here are pictures of the damage from the station's website:
Here are pictures of the damage from the station's website:
Here is the written version of the story from the station's website:
Wicked Winds Wreak Havoc on Permian Basin 12/8/09
Beau Berman CBS 7 News
December 8, 2009
Midland, Texas -
Trees and power lines fell victim to fierce winds that took hold of the Permian Basin today, affecting travel on Interstate 20 and tearing down nearly everything in their path.
Whether you were driving the Interstate or cruising through the city, 60 mph winds made their mark on the roadways.
"In December you don't expect it. In March, maybe. But this time of year you don't usually expect that kind of wind", said West Odessan, Terri Bomar.
Drivers on I-20 didn't know what to expect, facing tumbleweeds left and right, evidence of the vicious wind rifling across the highway.
In West Odessa, the wind wreaked havoc on a horse barn.
"I first saw the roof flying up and folding over and in a little while, puff again and another part of it blew over", said neighbor, Mary Ashley.
The wind ripped the three-wall metal structure out of the ground and over the fence as its inhabitants looked on.
"We would have lost seven horses", said the owner, Mrs. Bomar.
She came home to find her barn upside down, a $25,000 financial blow.
"If it would have gone the other way it would have been a tragedy", she said.
In Odessa’s “Starbright Village”, the holidays took a hit.
The metal cords holding up the city’s Christmas tree were no match for the wind today off I-20 where even the Starbright Village Christmas Tree came tumbling down.
"I heard that it was supposed to be pretty bad. I didn't know it was going to do this though", said Ashley.
High-powered gusts took down power lines in Midland, just another sign indicating the ferocity of these winds.
CBS 7's own signal tower found itself in the middle of the windstorm.
For Terri, the wind signaled the downfall of her barn, but she’s not blowing it out of proportion.
"Ohh... I can't tell you how thankful. God's watching over us today. That's for sure", said Bomar.
The heavy wind gusts have blown their way out of the Basin for now but Starbright Village is closed until further notice from the city of Odessa.
Joshua's Dream Hunt coming up
We have BIG plans for this upcoming weekend. Joshua has been asked to be featured on another TV show. He gets to go on a Dream Hunt for a deer in Del Rio, Texas. He has never done anything like this before.
We have BIG plans for this upcoming weekend. Joshua has been asked to be featured on another TV show. He gets to go on a Dream Hunt for a deer in Del Rio, Texas. He has never done anything like this before.
Josh has some mixed feelings about it. He's excited to be going to shoot a gun with his dad. But not sure he will want to get near a dead animal.
His dad is super excited for him, though, and can't wait to see the big buck the scouts have been watching and tracking for us.
I'm just glad Josh has his pacers so he can maneuver into the deer blind easier and still breathe big enough.
If you want to learn more about the non-profit agency responsible for the hunt and the tv show, check out their website:
Right now, it looks like we should have some nice weather for the hunt in Del Rio. Here's the forecast:
Below are some pictures I took last weekend when we went to let Josh practice shooting a friend's gun in preparation for the hunt.
I feel cruddy
I'm starting to feel like I'm coming down with a bad cold or flu (hope not though - especially with the big plans over the weekend coming up). I started feeling pretty achy around my neck yesterday and a little feverish though I haven't seen my temperature go up really. I've had a little congestion. I'm taking lots of vitamins and some medicine and trying to get lots of rest and drink lots of liquids. Hopefully I'll kick this thing soon so I'll be ready to go.
Christmas Gifts
Josh received a box this week from a very special Christmas elf. Inside was a beautiful stocking with his name on it and several small gifts. They are wrapped but the paper is tearing so I told him to leave them in the box for now and I'll tape them up while he's at school and then we can put them under the tree.
I was so glad he received some gifts because we just can't afford to buy Christmas gifts this year. We are having to save every penny we can to pay the taxes on our house.
One of Josh's nurses went with him yesterday and helped him buy gifts to give to us. That was SO SWEET of her. Josh was ear to ear smiles as they told us not to peak and wrapped the gifts.
Christmas Plans
We hope we may have visitors for Christmas since it does not look like we'll be able to go see our family in Odessa like we had hoped this year. My parents will have to make arrangements for my dad to get his dialysis done here and have oxygen available for him. And hopefully we can talk James' mother into coming along, too. Josh really wanted to have Christmas at home, anyway. And Steffany will be too far along in her pregnancy to travel outside of the San Antonio area, so maybe we'll get to spend the day with her, too. James and I will have to work right up to Christmas Eve anyway.
Merry Christmas Video
Below is a video I put together a couple of years ago at Christmas time. I really love the Christmas songs and enjoyed putting pictures to it. I hope you like it, too.
reminder.... I've still got lots of Stethoscope Covers to sell (or give for a donation) if you'd like one, let me know. Drop me a line at jwooten116@att.net.
Check them out at my recent blog post : http://vwootenworld.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
1 comment:
Great work, sorry for Christmas tree. Thanks for posting.
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