Alpine area trying to recover from storm

Clean-up was proceeding smoothly Tuesday morning from the storm which damaged parts of the Alpine community.

MDOT still had a section of Hwy. 9 just north of Alpine closed as they cleaned up debris and parts of County Road 172 and others in the area were intermittently blocked as Union County crews loaded fallen trees into dump trucks.

Emergency Management Director Curt Clayton said he believed that everyone whose home was damaged found shelter with family or friends.

The only injury reported was minor leg injuries to a woman whose house was damaged. However, one could only gain access to her home by crawling over piles of large broken pine trees and it was possible a bulldozer would be needed to clear a path.

Volunteers from the community and from the Union County Baptist Association were putting tarps on damaged roofs and helping with cleanup. Harmony Baptist Pastor Gary Yates and church members also set up their Soup for the Soul mobile food kitchen at the Alpine Volunteer Fire Department to feed victims and volunteers. The fire department was serving as a command post.

Assessing damage was still somewhat difficult because of the widespread debris blocking access to some locations. Monday night Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards said it appeared about 10 homes were damaged but the number could increase as they did more inspections during daylight Tuesday.

National Weather Service personnel would have to determine whether the damage was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds.