Wind gusts damage Medina restaurants

On Easter Sunday afternoon, a burst of bad weather took the roofs off two local restaurants in Medina.

Keese’s Barbeque and The Chuck Wagon both lost their roofs when wind gusts, which the National Weather Service said were up to 70 mph, appeared in the center of town.

The winds blew limbs off trees already brittle from the drought and swirled dead leaves in piles in city gutters.

The violent weather also brought hail all over the area. Hail from marble sized to baseball sized fell during the weather event.

City resident Vickie Shroyer just happened to hear the bad weather warning while listening to her radio.

She described immediately going outside to protect her plants and car. She saw the sky clearly signaled bad weather approaching.

“It was so fast, I just didn’t know it had come up so quickly,” she commented.

Afterward, cleanup in Medina began with Keese’s replacing their roof and other neighbors picking up felled branches. Blown over trees dotted the town.

Controversy over whose jurisdiction it was to pick up downed brush ensued over Facebook chat lines.

Luckily, Keese’s BBQ never lost power and refrigerators continued to keep their BBQ meat chilled. Depending on the skills of the family, owner Karen Keese set them to work replacing the missing sections of roofing by Tuesday.

It seemed that Medina dodged a disaster with a bit of luck as the winds hit the middle of town for only a few minutes while surrounding areas sustained only slight damage.

The town shared video and pictures of weather-related stories through the Community Chat on Facebook.

While the weather only stayed for a short time, it gave Medina residents news to share and discuss from a sleepy Sunday afternoon.