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High winds flip airplane, cause property damage

By Rose Hooper
plane Early Thursday morning, Oct. 25, high winds at the Jackson County Airport atop Berry Ridge flipped and damaged this single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk owned by Neil McCall of Pinhook. The three ropes holding the plane to the ground "popped like sewing thread," according to reports from Cullowhee volunteer firefighters on the scene to determine there was no hazard of a fuel leak. The storm also ripped through Santa's Land theme park and zoo in Cherokee. - Herald photo by Rose Hooper A storm hit quickly in the early morning hours Thursday - 2:05 a.m. - and was gone almost as quickly as it came. But during those few minutes, it wreaked havoc across Jackson County.

Falling trees brought power lines down, while 70 mph winds flipped over a single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk at the Jackson County Airport.

"The wind roared like several freight trains, vibrating the hanger where I was," said personnel at the airport who requested anonymity. "It was so dark and the hail was so powerful that I couldn't see a thing outside."

The force of the winds hitting the front end of the building "felt like straight-line winds," he said.

The hail was followed by "sheets of lightning hitting right on the ground," he said. "Evidently the path the storm took was up Frady Cove and Sutton Branch, straight across Berry Mountain, then down towards Fairview." Additional damage included Fairview School's row of 10-year-old Bradford pear trees, many of which snapped under the wind pressure.

The storm ripped through the south end of Santa's Land theme park and zoo in Cherokee, some six minutes later. Park managers there estimate the damage to be more than $100,000, with trees crashing through building. Several of the animal structures were damaged, including the pen holding the pheasants. Although none of the animals was injured, according to manager Mark Brooks, the pheasants had to move in with the llamas. Due to the damages, the park was closed Thursday and Friday, re-opening to customers Saturday.

Cullowhee volunteer firefighters responded to Neil McCall's overturned plane at the airport.

"There wasn't much fuel in the plane and no fuel leak, so we determined it was not a hazard," said firefighter Keith Ashe, who said he had to cut trees out of the road just to reach the airport.

"Tom Fincannon had secured the plane Wednesday night, but he said the winds caused all three ropes to pop just like sewing thread," said Ashe, who also reported trees down on the Western Carolina University campus.

While power remained at the airport, just below at the Jackson County Animal Shelter power was lost. Mike Ensley, county emergency services coordinator, said power was off in several locations, including Caney Fork, Cullowhee, Sylva and Whittier. About 4,500 Duke Power Co. customers were affected.

"Some of the power lines, like at Caney Fork, came down right in the middle of the road," said Ensley. Sylva volunteer firefighters monitored a down power line, which had sparked near a gas tank on Fairview Road.

Some of the worst storm damage was at the Bryson residence on Painter Road where a tree went through the roof of the house, Ensley said. On Little Savannah Road a large tree broke in Avery Mashburn's yard, barely missing his house.

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