WOOSTER, Ohio — While most farmers in Ohio spent the past week coping with extreme heat, a few livestock farmers in Wayne County also were dealing with heavy storm damage.
One of the hardest hit was Cantendo Acres-Grazeland Jerseys, owned by Tom Noyes and his family. Sometime around 2:30 p.m. July 22, a strong wind system swept its way across the farm and returned, from the east, blowing the roofs off three large barns.
“All of a sudden it turned around and came back east,” Noyes said.
When the wind returned, it caught the upper lip of the roofs facing east, and forced the metal sheeting to curl and bend. Roofs facing the other direction were less damaged.
All safe
No one was hurt, but Noyes and his daughter, Cheryl King, were shaken by the sudden damage to their property and spent the next few days cleaning debris. A roofing contractor is on site, and the buildings will likely be re-roofed as soon as possible, Noyes said.
The Noyes’ and the King family milk about 110 Jersey cows at the farm, and keep an additional 100 heifers.
They also lost about three tons of grain, after becoming soaked in heavy rain. Tarps have been placed over the feed barn, to cover the rest of the exposed feed.
Signs of heavy wind damage could be seen for several miles to the east, with several trees sheared or uprooted. Some corn also was slightly bent and reports were made of a field or two that had been flattened.
Other damage
At the Gasser dairy farm along Pleasant Home Road, a large traditional barn used to house heifers sustained significant roof damage, and several of the roof rafters were blown across the property.
Brian Gasser, who works for the farm, said the force of the wind blew some of the rafters three-four feet into the ground. A silage wagon blew across the road just a few yards from the heifer barn.
He was at the neighboring farm at the time of the storm, and protected himself by staying in the milk house. No one was hurt, and neither were any livestock.
Noyes was unsure what kind of weather event struck the area. He said he tried to contact the weather forecast service but was unsuccessful. He was amazed how the storm damaged some of his buildings, while completely missing others.
“The wind is crazy,” he said.
