Heber residents face aftermath of potential tornado: ‘This puts me homeless now’

One person was injured when a severe storm tore through Heber-Overgaard on Wednesday evening. Officials are still determining whether it was a tornado.

The storm also crushed a resident’s RV, shattered a church window during a prayer meeting and prompted a Valley man to check on his vacation property.

Residents spoke to KTAR News 92.3 FM about the damage and what comes next. Scroll down to watch their stories.

‘This puts me homeless now,’ one man says after seeing RV destroyed

“This puts me homeless now,” Kevin Smith told KTAR News 92.3 FM. He asked reporter Balin Overstolz-McNair for a ride to check on the trailer he called home in Heber.

When they arrived, they found it flipped onto its side and torn open by the storm.

Smith said the 1999 trailer had been in perfect condition before the damage.

Another man also said his RV was completely destroyed

Jon Crandell found his RV destroyed after a powerful storm swept through his neighborhood. He told KTAR News reporter Colton Krolak that his family was eating dinner when a warning arrived on his phone. About 15 to 20 seconds later, they heard a deep roar and hunkered down.

The storm’s most intense stretch lasted about 30 seconds, he estimated. His house initially appeared unscathed, but a drive down the street revealed fallen trees and his wrecked RV.

He believes the storm lifted the RV over a nearby storage container and tipped the container over. He described the damage as “just insane.”

His brother’s home near Sunflower also lost shingles, and fallen trees landed on one of his brother’s vehicles, he said.

“Stuff like this doesn’t happen around here,” Crandell said.

Pastor at church damaged by potential tornado shares story

Crews are still assessing damage in Heber-Overgaard in Navajo County, where a suspected tornado struck Wednesday evening.

Worshippers at Overgaard Baptist Church rushed to shelter when a powerful storm struck during a prayer meeting, blowing open the doors, Pastor Eric Woods said.

“We all evacuated to the ladies restroom, two concrete walls, no windows,” Woods said. He described the storm as “just a roaring freight train and then it was done.”

The storm toppled large trees, damaged roofing, knocked down the church’s steeple and broke a window in a building under construction.

“By God’s grace, they didn’t take any buildings out,” Woods said of the trees.

One uprooted ponderosa pine tore up a thick concrete curb, leaving Woods stunned. “I’m just grateful that nobody was hurt,” he said.

Woods said Southern Baptist Disaster Relief would help with cleanup throughout the community. Churches and others have also offered support.

“Honestly, right now, I’m still in shock,” Woods said.

Another man said his rental property was threatened

Dave Dever drove from the Valley to check on his vacation cabin after a neighbor told him a tree had crashed through the neighbor’s porch and into his living room.

Dever saw a tornado warning on TV and texted the neighbor before heading up around 8 p.m. He arrived about 10:30 p.m., but a power outage kept him from fully assessing the damage until morning.

“I got lucky,” Dever said.

Neighbors on both sides had trees hit their properties, while his cabin sustained only a broken window.

“Today’s just, hey, it’s time to start cleaning up,” he said. “Everybody will get through it. It’s time to just clean up and rebuild.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Colton Krolak and Balin Overstolz-McNair contributed to this report.

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