From the Eagle this morning:
quote:
Bryan resident O.B. Clifton, who lives at the corner of Melba Circle and Carter Creek Parkway, said he remembers looking outside Sunday evening and seeing the trees swirling. He heard a “big boom” and the lights went out, he said. But they were back on within a few minutes and the storm was over.
The 81-year-old said he didn’t know what had happened until he opened his front door and was blocked by the thick branches of an uprooted 40-year-old live oak tree which he had planted in his yard shortly after moving there in 1961.
“I couldn’t get out the front door,” said Clifton, who lost three of his live oaks and a portion of his fence.
Clifton walked around his front yard and watched as a crew of Aggies steadily worked to cut up the large trees and drag the pieces to the edge of the street. Clifton said the men approached him Monday and asked if he wanted their help removing the debris.
The homeowner at first was suspicious because the crew — junior C.J. Strnadel, senior Jay Cavazos, recent graduate Thomas Mitchell and their employer, Gary Doucette — offered to do the work for free, he said. But Clifton said he eventually took them up on the offer.
When asked why he and his crew had volunteered to work for free, Doucette, who said he did not want to name his company just to get free publicity, replied, “Why not?”
“We’re just doing this ... just because of all the people that come in town and try to take advantage of people,” Doucette said. “It’s just ridiculous.”
The crew began working about 9 a.m. and only stopped when the rain came, Mitchell said. And the group plans to continue offering their free services for the next couple days
