# Microburst Winds Hit Goat Shelter



## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

The National Weather Service has determined Saturday evening my place was hit by Straight Line Microburst Winds. The damage is extensive, but fortunately no humans or animals were injured or killed and my home is still standing. From my living room window it appeared the goat loafing shed had collapsed and I feared I would find a bunch of dead goats. Instead it flew away, most likely leaving 3 blown over stunned goats. My friend built that loafing shed and he did a good job. He was more than half done when he came across a book at Tractor Supply which provided loafing shed construction advice and my friend realized our loafing shed was way over built. This shed was built on solid rock, but clearly it had not been anchored well enough to withstand the intense winds. Paul Yura at the NWS says our winds had to be at least 60 to 70 mph to have caused our damage. I am sharing this not to receive sympathy, but to make everyone ask themselves if their goat shelter is hit by a natural disaster (whatever is possible in your area), could the structure survive the event? My friend repeatedly told me "that loafing shed is not going anywhere". He clearly was wrong. I do believe the epicenter of the microburst had to be very close to that shed, so it got the worse damage. The next shed will be built a lot differently and better anchored. If you are not sure your goat's home could survive a natural disaster, take steps now to make it a better home for them. Thankfully my goats (and cats) lived through this storm. Please do not get complacent and ignore this warning. We all do live busy lives, but it would be a sad day if that business led to a goat being killed in a storm.

I have created a video slide show with a lot more pictures and description of what happened, which I posted on my blog.

http://aocommunities.blogspot.com/2012/ ... storm.html

You can kind of tell where the walls once stood. Inside the shelter I had stacked 3 1/2 bales of straw. Midnight is licking his salt lick which is exactly where I put it in the shelter. The goats are alive because the floor was a type of dirt called caliche. If it had been wood, the goats would have been thrown 100's feet in the air.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Thank God they're all okay.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh my ...that is horrible...glad all ...are safe.... :hug: ray:


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

It is a miracle that 2 humans, 4 goats, and 2 kitties survived this storm without a scratch. The microburst occurred on the west side of my house. Most of the debris flew towards the east, over buildings and trees. My 6 week old kid was in a 10 by 10 dog kennel that was NOT attached to the ground in any way. He was inside a dog house. If the kennel had been placed in front of the house (west side) of my house, the kennel, dog house, and 6 week old kid probably would have slammed into the house or lifted and carried over the house and dropped out of the sky on the east side. He would have been killed for sure. But my house stopped all the winds from hitting him. I am so grateful everyone is safe.

Yesterday morning the only roofer in my county came by to check out my roof (need a new one). Turns out he is the person who owns Sport’s momma (6 week old kid). All my goats were abandoned and had to be bottle fed.

If you have lemons then make lemonade….the goats have found a new use for the loafing shed roof.


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