One week ago a wind blew through our city. Whether it was a powerful straight-line wind or an EF1 tornado, it struck without warning and cut a wide swath through central Longview.

Here in the Pineywoods, the wind snapped off or uprooted tall pine trees, large oaks and even utility poles. Trees fell on cars, houses, apartment buildings, roads, across trails and power lines. The wind took shingles off roofs, blew down fences, and took the steeple off a baptist church.

For us, the power outage lasted two days instead of the expected five days. This eased the situation at the six-way intersection where police directed traffic. No internet for a few days. People in the most damaged areas waited a week for power to their homes.

Crews worked 24/7, even in the rain, to start clearing the streets (especially to the hospital) and restore power. Chainsaws still buzz as volunteers and folks in neighborhoods clean up their streets and yards. Tree services continue trimming branches from overhead power lines, preparing for another possible storm this weekend.

The good news is no injuries have been reported. In spite of a lot of damage, it could have been worse.