2016: PHILLIPS RUN RESIDENTS RECOUNTING "MICROBURST" - "It Was A Frightening Experience"

(06/15/2023)

Roaring wind dipped down, twisting off trees and a power pole,
a few feet from the Ronald Brown residence on Phillips Run

By Bob Weaver 6/2016

Last week's weather episode, some calling it a micro-burst, continues to astound local residents, with further revelation regarding property damage to a few structures.

"It came quickly, a roaring that kept the brain from thinking, and it dipped down by the house like a tornado," said Phillips Run resident Ronald Brown.

Brown said he had just stepped out of his car and headed to the house, while the swirling wind twisted and broke trees a few feet away.

"We couldn't get the door to the house closed, but finally kicked it shut," he said. "It was a frightening experience."

Then Brown said an ornamental lighthouse flew off the porch into the yard, and some seconds later the wind knocked it back onto the porch against the house wall.

Ron Brown (right) and granddaughter Karmi Richards,
display broken lighthouse that blew from the porch
into yard and some seconds later blew back against house

"It was like a tornado dipping down."

Brown, a former resident of the Carolina beaches, said he experienced hurricanes there, but never expected to experience such a wind event in Calhoun.

"My wife said she had never experienced anything like it," Brown said.

Next to Brown's house at the foot of Barr Hill, again a few feet away, a large mainline power pole was clipped in half. (See earlier story)

Another Phillips Run woman said the window of her dwelling flew from the structure, and objects on a sink went out the window.

Power and telephone crews worked for several days getting things back in order, after the Grantsville VFD and volunteers showed up quickly to clear the road and lend assistance.