GREAT FALLS — The windstorm that took place on Friday night recorded over 70 mile an hour winds in Great Falls, causing lots of damage at the Rivershore community along Lower River Road.
“We’ve just had unfortunately a lot of damage,” said Shalaina Falcon, the propery manager of Rivershore. “But this one was most definitely the biggest heartbreak of them all.”
Falcon provided the surveillance video excerpts in the video above.
“I could hear the wind and then all of a sudden the air pressure in our trailer changed,” said Tena Beavers. “And it sounded like a train coming through.”
A porch was ripped from its home. One pair of picnic tables became just one picnic table, as the other crashed into an abandoned home. Many trailer homes have damaged siding.
The “one” that Falcon is referring to sits right beside the lot’s office. A mobile home with its roof completely torn off. The resident is now staying in a motel, but the Red Cross only gave him enough money to stay through October 7th. After that, he will be on his own to figure out what to do.
For Jan Gorman, an elderly woman who lives next to Riverside, This was the first time she had experienced anything like this in her 32 years at her home. She heard something fall in her yard during the storm.
“I heard like a big bang,” Gorman said. “And then the lights went out and I thought, ‘Well it didn’t hit the house,’ I thought it was a tree.”
It wasn’t until the morning that Gorman went outside and saw what really happened.
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“I could look over at the trailer court and it was the roof off of my neighbor’s trailer,” Gorman said.
Now Shalaina Falcon has an additional title other than “Property Manager” at Riverside.
“This is my community,” Falcon said. “I took the job to help make the community better.”
As she oversees the cleanup in the Gorman’s yard while also trying to support her roofless tenant.
“Bringing the news out here and trying to post pictures on Facebook to get a GoFundMe started, because this could be anybody,” Falcon said.
If you are looking for a way to help out, Falcon said to call 360-689-8487, or leave a donation in the lock box at #26 3308 Lower River Road.
