Strong wind gusts cause damage on Mother's Day

GRANTSVILLE — Gusty winds blew across northern Utah on Sunday, causing damage in some communities. The American Red Cross of Utah reported that three mobile homes were damaged by the winds. Volunteers went to help those who were impacted. Videos show that around noon in Grantsville, several families watched from their kitchen windows as strong winds turned everything brown, kicking up dust, sending tree limbs and trash bins flying. "There was a big crash and a bang, and I thought my husband had fallen in the shower," homeowner Valynn Carter said. An entire tree fell in her yard. It shattered the fence post. "When we got out of church, we got into the car, and it was so windy that I was afraid to drive to put it into drive because I was afraid we were going to get flipped over," Carter said. She and her neighbors are no strangers to wind, but they said this storm was significant. "I've never had a whistle quite like that," Carter said. A few miles away, Dick Healy heard a tree branch fall on his roof. "I was in my room watching TV, and all of a sudden this wind just hit hard and it sounded like a bomb going off," Healy said. Tree limbs hit his deck, taking down three exterior lights and breaking part of the stairs. "I walked outside and seen the tree on top of the roof over here, and I thought, oh, gosh, okay, we had some damage and stuff, so now I just have to see if the insurance is going to kick in and go from there," he said. They're bracing for stronger winds Monday. "I sat looking out the windows and watching all the dust across the fields over here," Healy said. "I felt sorry for those people if they had their windows open, because they're going to get all that dust in there." Healy and Carter said they're grateful it wasn't worse. "That's the thing I always pray for is if I hear something that there's damage being caused, that's the first thing, 'Please protect everybody,'" Carter said.

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