Trampoline flying through the air and a tree crashing through a home
The straight-line winds Friday night, June 30th reminded me of the movie the Wizard of OZ. The trampoline flying and landing on the railroad track was incredible. A large tree crashing through a mobile home and not injuring anybody was a miracle. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) advises that in smaller communities, like ours, you are pretty well on your own up to 72 hours.
We are very fortunate to have the best first responders you could find anywhere. The EMA coordinators (Emergency Management Agency), Arlene Geppert, mayoral appointment, volunteer and Village Trustee, and Devon Brown, mayoral appointment and village public works employee did an outstanding job working several hours during the storm. The “emergency team” consisted of the coordinators, Detective Jake Renner and several members of the all-volunteer New Athens Fire Department (NAFD). The NAFD has a long history of outstanding service to the community.