Wind gusts damaged agricultural buildings owned by Wendy Cleverley during a Dec. 15 storm in Newton. (Christopher Braunschweig)

Wendy Cleverley remembered the first time she heard a tornado. As a kid, she thought it sounded an awful lot like a freight train. A little after 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15, she heard that train hit her farm east of Newton. Wind gusts and debris tore through the barn, damaged the corn crib and had lifted a grain bin off its foundation.

“Here it came — we heard the freight train,” Wendy told Newton News while surveying the damages the morning after the storm hit.

Wind gusts damaged agricultural buildings owned by Wendy and Alexandra Cleverley during a Dec. 15 storm in Newton. (Christopher Braunschweig)

Although authorities have not yet confirmed if a twister touched down in Jasper County, the storm’s heavy winds reminded Wendy and her daughter, Alexandra Cleverley, of the August 2020 derecho that swept through Central Iowa and caused $11 billion in damages.

“This makes the derecho look like a piece of cake,” Wendy said of the damages to her property along U.S. Highway 6. “The derecho took trees, a little bit of roof damage and some other stuff. This? This is unimaginable. The barn made it through the derecho.”

The Cleverleys have lived on the property for more than two decades.

Wind gusts damaged agricultural buildings owned by Wendy and Alexandra Cleverley during a Dec. 15 storm in Newton.

No injuries were reported at the Cleverley household. At the time of the storm, Alexandra moved five horses from the barn to another shed on the property. Apart from a few minor puncture wounds to a few of the horses, the animals were not seriously harmed. Most of the damages were to the property.

Wendy said about $2,700 worth of hay was delivered and stored in the now-destroyed corn crib. With the roof torn off, the hay succumbed to the rain from the passing thunderstorm. Much of it “will have to go” because it will mold,” she said, and it is too dangerous to sort out any salvageable hay.

Across the street, neighbor Sue Beukema was sorting through her own piles of debris. She remembered when the storm passed through. The wind just picked up, she said, and it was over in less than five minutes. Sue and her daughter Jennifer Beukema were inside the house when they heard a bang.

Remnants of a silo totaled by a Dec. 15 storm lay scattered across the yard of Mike and Sue Beukema. (Christopher Braunschweig)

“It took out a window in the house and the plastic fence. And we lost three machine sheds and a silo,” Sue said, noting her husband, Mike Beukema, has lived on the property since 1950. “It’s sad to see these farm buildings that have stood for years be gone in an instant.”

Jennifer added, “The other three standing buildings have all been hit.”

Wind gusts damaged agricultural buildings owned by Mike and Sue Beukema during a Dec. 15 storm in Newton. (Christopher Braunschweig)

For the past week, weather experts and local first responder agencies have warned of an upcoming storm. Newton Fire Department warned of widespread non-thunderstorm high winds with gusts up to 75 mph. National Weather Service predicted the strongest winds would occur late afternoon or in the evening.

Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty said the county was overall very fortunate to come out of the storm much better than anticipated, but he did note a number of individual homes did receive significant damages. Tree damage and fallen power lines also occurred, as well as few road blockages.

“There was limited damage, but we also feel for those few areas that really suffered some significant structure damage,” Halferty said.

Wind gusts damaged agricultural buildings owned by Mike and Sue Beukema during a Dec. 15 storm in Newton. (Christopher Braunschweig)

Days before the storm hit, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office began preparing for the severe weather forecast. Early projections from weather service providers allowed Halferty and his staff to collaborate with other first responder agencies. Additional dispatchers and reserve deputies were brought on the day of, too.

“We just went through our emergency action plan to prepare and be ready — or at least as ready as we could be,” Halferty said. “We monitored the continued weather service updates. Alls we could do, literally, was sit back and wait … We were able to follow the weather reports of what was happening west of us.”

Inside the city limits of Newton, overall property damages were spotty and relatively minor. For instance, Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess said some storage sheds had turned over and yard furniture was blown away. However, public works was ready in case damage was more severe and widespread.

“I think from a city preparedness perspective we were about as ready as you could be given the circumstances,” Burdess said. “And I think that’s a great testament to what we saw last year. We knew what to expect and that helps us prepare a lot better.”

Property damages of a farm hit by a Dec. 15 storm in Newton are reflected off a passerby's sunglasses (Christopher Braunschweig)

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com

Reporter with a strong penchant for community journalism.

Copyright © 2021 Newton Daily News. All rights reserved. Published in Newton, Iowa, USA, by Shaw Media.

Copyright © 2021 Newton Daily News. All rights reserved. Published in Newton, Iowa, USA, by Shaw Media.