Weekend storm damages cemetery in West Newton

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

What appears to have been a localized storm ripped through West Newton Saturday evening, causing damage at the cemetery.

Ben Markle, manager of the West Newton Cemetery Association, said he looked out the window of his home around 7 p.m. Saturday and could see nothing but white as the rain poured down.

“I couldn’t even see across the river.” he said.

When the storm cleared, two old oak trees were on the ground and large tree limbs were scattered throughout the cemetery.

“One tree was snapped in half and a huge pin oak came down,” Markle said. “There were roads blocked and we had a funeral (Monday) morning. We had to call our crew in.”

Markle said the two-man grounds crew worked hard over the weekend to get all the roads in the cemetery reopened in time for Monday’s funeral service and most of the downed limbs cleared from the cemetery.

“Fortunately no monuments were damaged,” Markle said. “I don’t recall anything this bad since February 2010 when we had the ice storm. When this happens in winter, it has its own challenges. But with the heat and humidity it’s even worse.”

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