Storm ravages Nara Visa

NARA VISA - A severe storm last Tuesday struck this northern Quay County village, knocking down trees and causing widespread property damage, including to its historic community center.

No injuries were reported.

The storm the afternoon of Sept. 17 ripped away about one-third of the roof from the Nara Visa Community Center - formerly the Nara Visa School built in 1921 and designated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Though the school closed in 1968, the building continues to be a focal point for Nara Visa. It is used for funerals, weddings, elections and an annual auction for a local cattle company. Until a few years ago, it hosted the now-defunct Nara Visa Cowboy Gathering.

The morning after the storm, volunteers used forklifts, skid steers and flatbed trailers to haul away debris. Others boxed up books from the building's exposed library so they could be stored somewhere else.

Beverly Earle, a member of the community center's board and village board, said she found out that morning - to her relief - the building was insured. She said coverage had been uncertain because of recent turnover in the village's leadership positions.

Earle gave the Quay County Sun a tour of the building. Rainwater pooled on the floor in several areas after an estimated 1 1/2 inches of rain fell during the storm. The wind broke several windows and ripped away guttering on the building's south side.

One upper-level storage room yawned open to the sky after its portion of the roof was peeled away, leaving nothing but support beams.

Earle, however, was thankful that damage to the community center wasn't worse.

"Thank God they built it to last in those days," she said.

Earle showed one room dedicated as a museum to Nara Visa history. That portion of the building still had a roof overhead.

She said the museum, library and other parts of the building had been closed for three years until recently. At that point, her voice broke with emotion and she wiped away tears.

"I was heartbroken, honestly," she said about the storm. "It was a lot of hard work to get it back open to the public.

"As devastating as it was, we didn't lose any people," she said after regaining her composure. "Our community is still intact."

She said she heard of a few farm animals suffering minor injuries from the winds, but no injuries to people.

The nearby gymnasium building sustained water damage due to the high winds compromising its gutter system.

The community center's auditorium usually is used for elections. Quay County Clerk Ellen White said she proposes moving the village's Nov. 5 general election site to the adjacent gymnasium's kitchen, which saw no damage from the storm.

White said she would mail a letter to each of the 99 people registered to vote in the Nara Visa area, informing them of the election venue change.

Michele Earle said she heard of other residents losing a barn roof, a porch, a hay barn and other property damage from the storm.

"There's damage all over," she said. "It was hard to drive around because of all the downed trees."

Storm debris also blocked U.S. 54 for a short time.

The storm heavily damaged the mobile home of Lecil Evans and his former wife Makeyia Tafoya. It ripped away its roof and uprooted a nearby tree, dropping it onto the structure.

Fortunately for them, they already were moving into a newer mobile home on the lot. Evans anticipated having water, sewer and gas lines installed at the newer trailer by the weekend.

Evans recalled what happened during the storm.

"Within five minutes it went from calm to high wind, to the sound of a freight train, then calm again," he said.

They huddled in the bathroom, waiting for the storm to pass. When they emerged, 4 inches of rainwater or hail had collected on the kitchen's floor due to the roof or windows being gone.

Tafoya said their 20-pound Maine Coon cat was sucked out of a window during the storm. It later was found, dazed with a small cut on its head, but otherwise apparently unhurt.

County road workers shoved to the side the remnants of the trailer's roof and a Dumpster, both which had been blown into the street.

Evans surmised the storm was a tornado, pointing to downed trees in the village lying in different directions.

Sheriff Dennis Garcia said his department had no confirmed sightings of a tornado, nor did the National Weather Service.

A NWS official said, however, that conditions in the region were right for a possible microburst, which can produce maximum wind speeds of over 100 mph.

A severe storm also struck Interstate 40 west of San Jon the same afternoon, causing six overturned vehicles and one injury. (See other story in this edition.)

Nara Visa's landmark Sacred Heart Catholic Church, known as "the little white church on the hill," sustained minor water damage when the storm blew open its front doors.

The next morning, church member William Bolz of Amistad was using a vacuum to remove water from the carpeting. He said he saw no other problems.