Photo By Chad McMeen | Melissa Daville, a Fightertown spouse, watches as a damaged tree outside her house is...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. - For many military families who live on Laurel Bay, the night of Sunday was one they would like to forget. The Lowcountry was hit by a severe thunderstorm with winds up to 48 miles per hour. Laurel Bay was among the places that suffered extensive damage, including fallen power lines, trampolines blown across yards and several houses that had trees fall on them.
The storm did most of its damage over a span of an hour to an hour and a half, according to Staff Sgt. Mark Fisher, the staff non-commissioned officer in charge of the base weather department.
"The storm was indicative of a severe thunderstorm, what we would consider a Condition 1 storm," Fisher said. "The wind speed was approaching tornado levels."
The storm left a large amount of debris around Laurel Bay that had residents out early Monday morning trying to assess the damage and begin cleaning up.
"It was too dark last night for me to really see much, but when I woke up this morning it looked like a forest in the front yard and a lake in the back yard," said Jessica Frame, the wife of a Fightertown Marine.
There were many families facing the same situation as Frame, but they were not alone in their efforts. Tri-Command Communities responded quickly after the storm hit and began the process of restoring everything to normal.
"Our emergency maintenance team hit the scene immediately and we had our full staff here going door to door checking on houses," said BJ Cozart, the director of property management for Atlantic Marine Corps Communities.
On Monday morning the assessment process turned to cleanup and repair.
"We have the Southern Tree Service doing tree removal and attending to any trees that could be unsafe or leaning," Cozart said. "We also have Manzanna's landscaping service doing small tree removal."
Any families aboard Laurel Bay that removed fallen trees or limbs from their property, were urged to do so safely.
According to Robert Bible, the assistant director of property management for AMCC, after any major storm there have been quite a few chainsaw injuries, some fatal.
"People have broken legs, arms or been impaled, so it's very dangerous for them to go out and remove trees. We have a maintenance staff, along with several contractors, to do that.
"Tri-Command is working diligently to clean all the debris up, so please don't remove it yourself," Bible continued. "Just report it and we will take it from there."
One item that was potentially as dangerous as the falling trees were the numerous trampolines that families have aboard Laurel Bay.
"They are something we are concerned about because they become a flying object," Cozart added. "Everyone here complies to the order of having to put a net on their trampoline, but that doesn't take heavy winds into consideration.
"I would recommend taking the trampoline and turning it upside down if you know there are going to be heavy winds, but that doesn't mean that it's not going to pick them up and throw them."
The severe weather of Sunday was a mild taste of what could happen if the Lowcountry was hit by a hurricane. Tuesday marks the beginning of hurricane season and hopefully Laurel Bay residents can learn from the damage sustained during this last storm.
"These are military families and they improvise and move as needed," Cozart said. "I was really proud of them Sunday night, because there were a lot of families that got out there and cleaned off their cars, their houses and secured their families. I was very impressed."
All residents aboard Laurel Bay are provided with renters insurance that provides a limited amount of coverage for personal property, such as household furniture, clothing or jewelry. It does not cover damages to motor vehicles or animals. For more information on how to file a claim, residents are encouraged to contact AMCC at 846-5300.
| Date Taken: | 05.24.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 05.28.2010 09:16 |
| Story ID: | 50436 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 218 |
| Downloads: | 134 |
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