Yumans brave the storm

The fury of Sunday's storm hit and missed areas all over south Yuma, but the rain and hurricane-force winds seemed to bore down the worst on other neighborhoods.

Just a quick drive down that street Sunday demonstrated the strength of the storm that ripped through town. Numerous eyewitnesses described the area around the 100 block of West 27th Place as the worst-hit section of town.

Numerous condos were missing huge sections of their roofs, and many ceilings had fully collapsed onto living rooms and dining rooms. Streets barricaded to the south between a church and trailer park were cluttered with pieces of houses and other materials, leading people to liken the scene to the path of a tornado.

Catherine Ratzlaff, 75, had to flee to her kitchen for safety when her living room ceiling nearly caved in on her Saturday night. Ratzlaff's wooden carport had been blown over the house, ripping a 10-by-10-foot hole in the roof, according the woman's son-in-law, Thomas Schaefer.

"The rip exposed the wood and it got soaked. The ceiling came down with the water," Schaefer said. "I haven't even seen the carport. Some people say it's over by the church or the trailer park. But I still think some of the neighbors got it worst."

Ratzlaff was helped out of her home Sunday morning by emergency personnel after a neighbor's call to 911. Schaefer said she was uninjured and mostly lost furniture and a "few trinkets" in the damage.

"She was a little nervous and shook up like anyone would be," Schaefer said. "I've never seen anything bad like this out here, especially this much damage to the house. There was two to three feet when we arrived here this morning."

A crew from Sun Country Restoration was dispatched to West 27th Place Sunday to begin working from house to house, literally progressing down the street.

"I'd say this has been one of the worst storms we've seen in awhile," said Michael Sanders, superintendent for construction with Sun Care.

Sanders said the majority of calls for water and wind damage focused between 24th and 28th streets and between east of Arizona Avenue to 4th Avenue. Obviously some reports of damage were heard outside those areas, too.

"Some of these guys have been working since 3 a.m.," Sanders said Sunday, gesturing toward workers scrambling up and down ladders. "We'll be working tonight until who knows how late. We'll be working into the night today and all of tomorrow probably."

Nearby neighbors Russell and Michele Barrow lost their roof during the storm, but they stressed to The Sun how they were choosing to keep a sense of humor in the face of adversity.

"You know, we look at it this way: We have a sky roof and we watched the stars last night after it quit raining," Russell said.

The couple packed up their dog, Chesty, some personal belongings and dried food and went to a refuge set up Sunday morning at Gwyneth Ham Elementary School by the American Red Cross. They planned to spend the night at a hotel.

Russell, an employee at Yuma Proving Ground, said he and his wife lost their power at about 12:30 a.m., about a half-hour after the storm began battering the area.

The Barrows were the only people in the refuge area at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Neighbors Travis and Irene Mitchell stressed their agreement that their street was likely one of the worst hit.

"Based on what everyone has told me and from driving around town I haven't seen or heard of anything worse than this," Travis Mitchell said, adding that American Red Cross officials had been sending journalists to their area all day as a prime example of the storm's wrath. "Since we've lived here this is the strongest rain and wind we've seen.

"We're actually fine inside, except for a little water that leaked into the vents," he said. "Our neighbors had their living room and dining room ceilings cave in. The damage seems to be in chunks. There will be four OK homes, then four bad and so on."

Sanders with Sun Country Restoration encouraged homeowners with questions to call professionals instead of risking not understanding or detecting damage.

"When in doubt, call ..." he said, emphasizing that not all damage is easily seen and can build up over time. "In two or three days, your roof could be caving in. So it's always best to call."