Strong winds knock down trees in Utah County

Oct 14, 2023

PAYSON, Utah — Severe wind gusts on Monday knocked out power lines and trees in parts of Utah County. Many are dealing with the consequences, including the Gariety family in Payson.

“It’s been a little bit stressful,” said Dallin Gariety. His wife and three kids were inside when a pine tree in their front yard fell on their home.

“The wind got really crazy, crazier than I’ve seen it,” recalled Andrea, Dallin's wife. "I heard a massive creaking noise and I looked outside and the tree was on our house.”

It wasn’t just this home. Neighbors said they haven’t seen this much wind here before and saw many fallen trees and power lines across Payson.

“It was scary,” said Andrea.

The family is working to get the tree off the home until they can figure out what’s next.

“The damage has been pretty extensive. It was a 50-foot pine, so it crushed a lot of the roof,” said Dallin. “You can’t see a lot of the damage from the interior, but we do have holes poking through walls and through the ceiling.”

Whitelock Tree Services is a local company helping to get the tree off the family’s home. They cleaned up a fallen tree in the neighbor’s yard as well. The two-man crew says the wind kept them busy.

“It’s been nonstop,” said Daniel Whitelock. He and his son-in-law, Jadee Thompson run the business. “We went home at 11:30 p.m. last night and have been back at it since 6 a.m. this morning.”

They said it’s important to look for signs in your trees that they might be dying.

“Look at the bark cracking on the bottom of the trunk, and if you see dead spots on the bottom of the trunk, rotten spots, look for them and be aware,” said Whitelock

Andrea and Dallin say their neighborhood saved them.

“They helped get the kids out, tons of people came over to help, they bought us dinner, our neighbors set up a bounce house for the kids to play,” said Andrea. “I just feel very, very loved and grateful for this community”

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