Sunriver-area residents cleaning up after intense storm topples many trees

SUNRIVER, Ore. (KTVZ ) -- The super-cell thunderstorm that hit over the weekend toppled many trees, some that damaged homes and communities all across the High Desert.

NewsChannel 21 spoke with many residents Monday who were cleaning up from major damage to their yards or homes.

Neighbors off of Wood Duck Drive, about five miles south of Sunriver, said the duration of the storm was short, but the damage was massive around the area.

Trees around their properties were uprooted, broken in half and split around the yard. Between two neighbors, they lost more than a dozen trees. They said the storm lasted probably no more than 15 minutes in their area, but power was out for at least eight hours.

Piles of brush were scattered throughout their yards, and trees even fell during the storm into the lake in the back of their homes. Fortunately, none of the trees fell onto their houses or cars.

Carolyn Ingram said, “It went on for not even an hour. It came through and it’s almost like the opposite things were clashing. The winds were coming from the south, but the clouds were moving towards them in the opposite direction.”

Her neighbor, Catherine Brooks, said, "Lucky thing for us is the trees actually missed our house. Missed everything -- we had no major damage, except for a little fence that can be easily replaced for not that much money.”

Ingram said she was waiting for an estimate of how much it’ll cost to repair her yard, but she said he submitted some of her receipts to the Upper Deschutes River Communities Defensible Space Reimbursement Program, which can assist people in the area who have damage to their homes.

Chris Bushnell, who lives off of Cooper Drive, said a failing tree just barely missed his house and two cars. Bushnell measured the broken parts of the tree, which was about 65 feet tall.

He said he and his family have cut the remains of the tree, and he plans to take the load to the dump.

“It was a bit of a scramble, and we were wondering what is going on, so we feel pretty lucky," Bushnell said. "It was a pretty significant tree -- it was the centerpiece of our driveway. We’re hoping we’ll see in a year, something will sprout out of the top.”

Bushnell said his area had a lot of hail and wind as well, and the power outage in the area also lasted about three to four hours.