Jun. 18 – Storms, rain, and damaging winds moved through Sevier County in the late afternoon and early evening hours of Wednesday, June 11, felling trees, toppling power lines, and wreaking damage that left many homes without power, and in at least one case, transportation.
Many Seymour residents noted what appeared to be a tornado over the city, but luckily that turned out not to be the case.
Charlotte Bruen of Paradise Way in Sevierville was on the phone with a friend that afternoon when she heard the storm arriving by the crackle over the phone lines. Telling her party that she had to go, she hung up and went to the porch of the beautiful square-log home she shares with her husband Harry. From the porch, you can see past Cold Mountain all the way to Clingman’s Dome on a clear day.
That afternoon, Charlotte’s attention was drawn much closer to home. Her driveway, in fact.
“The heavy part of the storm blew in and out again in just a few minutes. I heard a roaring noise and came out and saw this.”
The National Weather Service calls this type of storm a “wet microburst,” which is a short downburst accompanied by heavy rainfall while the worst of the winds are blowing. The amount of rain that the burst dumps actually helps keep the storm cell from developing into a much more dangerous rotating funnel cloud.
The strong storm cell that had moved up and over the crest of the ridge where the Bruen’s house is situated had broken a giant oak tree hundreds of years old as if it were a matchstick, and laid it straight and true across the roof of Charlotte’s new Grand Vitara. It also cracked the cap on the Bruen’s well.
Several other trees around the home were damaged or uprooted, and though damage to the main house was limited to a leak, probably around the skylight, there was other structural damage on the property, and they were without power until after 9 p.m. that evening.
“When the worst of it blew over, I called Harry on his cell and told him ‘Get home now. The shed’s in the hollow and the tree’s on my car.’”
Charlotte, who teaches special education at South Doyle, will now begin cleaning up the mess the storm left behind. “We’ve lived here fifteen years,” she said, “though when we bought the property no one had lived on it for fifty years.” The home and vehicle are both fully insured.
Last Wednesday, Mother Nature reminded them that despite years of care and labor, a storm can take your possessions away in minutes.
“At least my vegetable garden is okay,” Charlotte said with a smile.

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