Sisters ranch owner records 71 mph winds, finds parts of roof quarter-mile away

(Update: New video, Sisters-area ranch owner comments)

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- City crews in Sisters were working Wednesday to clean up damage caused by high winds overnight as a large storm blew into the Pacific Northwest. 

Some Sisters residents said they were kept up or awakened by the winds, as gusts reached speeds of nearly 60 mph. 

Winds elsewhere around the region hit a reported peak of 67 mph in Bend, according to the National Weather Service, with numerous locations on the High Desert reporting winds gusting above 40-50 mph.

“There were high winds, and definitely something was blowing in and/or blowing out, because the temperature went up to 63 degrees,” Monika Piat said Wednesday.

Crews were busy along McKinney Butte Road, clearing the debris from what could have been a close call.

Piat described what happened to one of her neighbor's houses.

“So here in the Pines area, there’s definitely a tree that went down and went through somebody’s house and almost hit their home,” Piat said.

Across town, there was destruction to not only a home but also what appeared to be a totaled car. The homeowner said a tree snapped and landed on his property. 

Although he would not comment on camera, his neighbor said he was awakened by the chaos. 

"I had fallen back asleep, and then I heard a really loud sound," Mark Keefe said. "And then I heard a really loud sound and a flash of light that woke me up. And to be honest, I didn’t know if I was dreaming about the flash of light, but apparently the trees when they fell hit a transformer."

Just outside of town, at the Lazy Z Ranch, owner John Herman said the winds were so strong, he was continuously checking his wind speed monitor, watching it climb.

“I jumped in bed, and all (of) the sudden, the house did just the biggest thunderclap I’ve heard yet, so I ran back out, and it said 71 miles an hour,” Herman said.

On Wednesday, he was finding debris throughout his property.

Pointing to different debris around his property, Herman said, “There’s a pipe over here that’s just bent in half, of stove pipe, there’s this roof material, this metal roofing material that I think came from the barn from across the highway, about a quarter-mile away.”