Storm causes significant damage to local cemetery

 

RIGBY — After a severe thunderstorm swept through much of eastern Idaho Sunday morning, fast winds caused a few trees to be blown down at Pioneer Cemetery in Jefferson County.

According to Greg Kaiser, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Pocatello, no official measurements were made in that area, but reports that came in stated winds measured between 50 and 70 mph in the area.

“Based on the damage, I would assume it was 60 mph+ that occurred,” Kaiser said.

An employee with Pioneer Cemetery, Keith Nelson, told EastIdahoNews.com that four blue spruce pine trees and one cedar tree were blown down due to the storm.

The wind had also scattered tree limbs and debris throughout the cemetery.

“We haven’t been able to assess damage to headstones yet. We can see some of them, but there are many of them that we can’t see till we get the trees up off them,” Nelson said.

He said a tree removal company is working as of Tuesday morning, helping remove the tipped-over trees, but it will take some time before the cemetery is fully cleaned and the damage assessed.

After the trees and debris are cleared, Nelson said they will hire a monument company and reset the headstones.

However, they have a lot of work ahead of them, like landscaping the areas where the trees fell and filling the areas where the roots once were.

“The timing is bad, because we’re scrambling anyway to get ready for Memorial Day, and this complicates it,” Nelson said. “We’re on top of it, and we’re moving along the best we can.”