Wind rips apart trailer, leave brothers homeless
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The men were inside a trailer located at 220 H Knight Road when it was swept off its foundation during the storm that hammered the county Thursday afternoon. According to Buddy Patterson, their employer and the owner of the trailer, brothers Evodio Ortiz Estrada, 24, and Gerardo Ortiz Estrada, 22 were in the living room when the storm hit, rolling the trailer over and totally demolishing it.
“One of them (Gerardo) it threw out and he landed up there,” said Patterson, pointing to an area about 30 feet from the debris. “It didn’t hurt him, but the other one (Evodio) was pinned under some wreckage.”
Unable to free his brother by himself, younger brother Gerardo ran to a neighbor’s house for help. Evodio was eventually extricated and Patterson took both men to River Park Hospital where only Evodio required treatment. Miraculously both men suffered only minor injuries, Gerardo having only a small cut above one eye and Evodio suffering cuts, some requiring stitches, bruises and a pulled shoulder muscle which put his left arm in a sling but involved no broken bones.
In keeping with the freakish nature of the incident, Patterson noted the brothers had their pick-up parked near the trailer which apparently rolled over the truck but did minimal damage to it.
According to Patterson, who owns Cedarwood Nursery where the Estradas are employed, the incident occurred at 4:39 p.m.
“I found a clock there this morning,” he said. “And it quit running at 21 minutes to 5.”
The storm also took down power lines adjacent to the trailer which had Caney Fork Electric linemen working in the rain Friday.
Since there was also extensive damage to trees and property in the area of Crisp Springs Road and Charles Creek Road near the site of the overturned trailer, there was some speculation as to whether a tornado had touched down, but no witnesses reported seeing a funnel cloud and the National Weather Service says no tornadic activity occurred.