Heber-Overgaard couple survives suspected tornado as home lifts four feet

NAVAJO COUNTY, Ariz. - Residents in Heber-Overgaard continue to clean up after a suspected tornado struck the area Wednesday night.

National Weather Service investigators surveyed three sites in Arizona for possible tornadoes, with Heber-Overgaard being one of the affected locations.

Officials indicated it might be a few days before receiving confirmation regarding the touchdown, but damage across the neighborhood was severe.

Local perspective:

Margaret Wilkie was inside her home when her husband spotted a funnel cloud outside. The couple fell to the floor as the suspected tornado ripped through their property. The force of the storm lifted the entire home off the ground and pulled it away from the porch by about four feet.

"He actually saw a funnel cloud, yeah," she said.

The storm caused widespread destruction across the backyard, where a trailer flipped and crashed into a tree. A 14-foot boat was lifted into the air and thrown to the other side of a tree, leaving only the motor behind on the opposite side.

"It was up against the door," she said. "The boat is on the other side of that tree, if you can see it. It's upside down …"

Wilkie noted how fast the wild scene unfolded. "It happened so fast. It was crazy," she said.

Dig deeper:

A team of investigators from the National Weather Service Flagstaff inspected the area to evaluate the destruction and determine whether a twister was responsible. Megan Taylor with the National Weather Service Flagstaff explained that the team's goal was to determine the extent of the damage and establish a rating for the storm's strength.

"Our goal today is to determine what the extent of the damage is and try to come up with a really good rating of what we think the strength of this storm was," Taylor said.

Some local residents expressed frustration after receiving tornado warning alerts only after the storm had already passed through the area. Addressing those concerns, Taylor noted that severe weather events serve as a learning opportunity and a chance for officials to survey damage, gather information, and continually improve warning processes.

Rick Koberna described the terrifying moment the storm struck his Heber-Overgaard property. He recalled seeing tons of hail coming down before the hail stopped and heavy winds began. As items began hitting and rattling against the house, Koberna shared that it felt like a large tree was rolling across the roof.

"Tons of hail. Hail was just coming down. All of a sudden, the hail quit, the winds started blowing and all of a sudden, we started hearing things up against the house, hitting it. All of a sudden, it just started rattling and sounded like a big tree was rolling across the house," he said.

Pointing to the damage on his property, Koberna noted that the tree trunks showed how the wind rotated and split the wood.

"It rotated and just split. It's just unbelievable. Crazy," he said.

What's next:

Cleanup efforts remain underway throughout Heber-Overgaard while meteorologists continue their investigation into the storm. Reflecting on the survival of her household, Wilkie expressed gratitude to be alive, adding that they will process what happened another time and take recovery one step at a time.

"Be happy with what you have," Wilkie said. "Something like this happens, have you keep moving and take it one step at a time."