Aft left, Brett Gerk and daughter Leighton stand proudly in their corn field east of Holyoke by the Colorado/Nebraska state line on July 20. Just days later, what once stood tall for the Gerks is beat down to shreds in a July 28 storm that produced baseball-size hail.
Mike Frazier measures hail that’s 3 inches in diameter — about the size of a baseball — at his home northeast of Amherst.
There one day, gone the next
Total destruction. Complete annihilation. Absolutely disgusting.
These words were used to describe the havoc wreaked on the rural area northeast of Holyoke Saturday evening, July 28.
According to Mike Frazier, who lives northeast of Amherst, the hail only lasted 45-60 seconds around 8:30 p.m., but one minute of 3-inch-diameter hail beating down on buildings, vehicles and crops is one minute too long.
Like others in the area, Frazier reported significant damage to his property, including cracked windshields, broken windows, dented roofs, stripped trees and divots in the lawn.
Frazier also serves as the director of Youth Challenge’s Camp Machasay, which did not escape the path of destruction. For the children and adults staying at the camp for an event hosted by Pastor Ismael Lopez, the terrifying weekend is one they won’t soon forget.
Marc Weber and his boys weren’t at home southeast of Amherst to experience the deafening sound of hail but instead returned to the damage after attending events at the Phillips County Fair Saturday night.
Weber said he found tennis-ball-size hail inside his living room, while one of his sons is left with a hole not only through his window but all the way through his bedroom dresser.
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