A major storm rolled through the village of Callaway Sunday evening, June 5, packing strong winds, heavy rain and large hail. As residents emerged from the shelter of their homes after the storm had passed, many discovered mass devastation to their homes and vehicles.

Windows were shattered, vehicles damaged nearly beyond recognition. Some residents described the sound of breaking glass as shards flew into homes and downtown business buildings. Trees were stripped of their leaves and small branches, which now littered the streets and yards like a layer of 1970s shag carpeting. But…this is Callaway. Now the work began.

“Everybody was out surveying the damage, and it was still raining so people were trying to cover things as best they could. Justin and Jacob Mason, owners of the hardware store downtown, were already out driving around town with sheets of plywood to help cover windows,” said Callaway resident Brian Hogg. “Everybody who noticed broken windows was grabbing plywood and getting things covered as soon as possible.”

Hogg’s home was one of many in the village that saw extensive hail damage, with broken windows and riddled siding along the east side of the buildings. That’s correct - East side. The storm was very unusual in its movement.

Like several others in town, the Hoggs brand new Toyota van was shelled in the driveway of the home, as the family watched helplessly from a distance. However, one sentiment continued to be shared as resident after resident talked about the storm - “at least no one was hurt. We will be just fine.”

The timing of the storm was uncanny. Had it been 48 hours later the village would have been full of hundreds of bicyclists and tent campers. The annual Bike Ride Across Nebraska tour was scheduled to make an overnight stop in Callaway on Tuesday, and storm or not - they were coming.

“We talked to the BRAN organizers early Monday morning and made them aware of the hail storm, and they wanted to know if our streets were clean and if we had electricity,” said Chamber President Ken Pitkin. “I told them to just tell the riders that usually not everything here is all boarded up. I told them we would lay out the red carpet, but it may have a few holes in it.”

Pitkins said with the large size of the hailstones and as hard as it pounded, “if we would have had BRAN riders here we would have been in trouble.” He said the storm did take out a few of the individuals who had volunteered to help with BRAN, as they now had to deal with their own damage issues.

“We might all be stretched a little thinner, but it will all work out. That’s the thing about this town. It was pretty amazing - people went from house to house asking everyone if they were ok and what they needed. We had people check on the houses of others we knew were out of town, and there were four or five people just driving around with plywood in the back of their pickups for people.”

The Community Center was the host site for a potluck dinner Tuesday evening for the BRAN riders and community members, and Pitkin said he and Stacey Guthard spent a few hours Monday morning cleaning up some of the mess left at the center in the wake of the storm.

“It broke out the windows along the East side, and there was water and glass all the way across the kitchen and meeting room. The force was so strong,” said Pitkin.

Local residents reported hail nearly as large as baseballs, while the majority of the stones were more in the golf ball size range. “I’ve been in a lot of hail storms, but this was just slamming the glass. The damage shows how hard it hit,” Pitkin added.

Monday found residents of all ages cleaning up their yards and homes. The Duckett family was all out cleaning up leaves and debris, as one little boy shared that he was pretty scared. “I wasn’t scared!,” his brother chimed in with a grin, rake in hand.

Parts of the Village did lose power for a short time. “We had some single phasing going on down main street and in a few residential areas where power was knocked out. It wasn’t anything major, just a little time consuming,” explained Rod Brestel, Village Utilities Superintendent. “Some folks were without power for maybe an hour or two while we worked on some spots, but we were able to have everyone back on shortly after 9:00. It helps when it’s still light out and you can see what you’re doing. There were quite a few meters that were busted and we will just have to go around and replace those as we can. We thought we were just on the north edge of it (the storm), then it turned around and came back and got us.”

By mid-morning on Monday there were already several insurance adjusters and roofing companies in town. The clean-up and repairs will continue for several weeks, but that will not stop this resilient community from continuing to welcome visitors. The people of Callaway truly are “The Heart of the Seven Valleys”.