Strong winds in the Borderland knocked down “Doppler” Dave’s trees
ANTHONY, New Mexico (KVIA) -- With today's peak wind gusts reaching 66 mph (106 km/h), numerous downed trees have been reported, including a metal roof ripped off.
The front yard of ABC-7's chief meteorologist, "Doppler" Dave Speelman, bore the brunt of today's strong winds: two large trees were uprooted, and part of his yard fence was damaged, among other things.
"Earlier today I just had one tree down, so I went into the house, told my wife and everything, and then she went out about half an hour later, and that's when the other tree came down. So we got two trees that are down, so now we're figuring all out to get it all repaired," said "Doppler" Dave. "I would say these trees were probably about a 100 and 150 feet tall and as you get up in elevation, of course, the winds typically are a little bit stronger; so, it doesn't take extreme winds to take these down."
Our StormTrack Weather team issued an ABC-7 First Alert to prepare residents for this week's strong winds, as more are expected to hit the area throughout the week.
Those trees at "Doppler's" house had been there for over 30 years before the winds toppled them today, also bringing down some power lines in his neighborhood.
He says that when this happens, it's best not to touch or go near power lines; it's better to call the electric company so someone can help restore service, as some wires may still be live and cause electrical shocks, which is dangerous.
"That's the problem, lesson learned; when these trees die, even before the windy season, you should really take them down," "Doppler" added. "It's going to stay windy all the way through Friday, so we're just starting our windy season, we got March, we got April, we got May to go, so I don't think it's going to be anything like we had last year with all the winds and the dust, but we certainly have our fair share of winds here."
