• Article Photo. This car was one of many damaged by falling trees in the historic storm 5 years ago today.
    This car was one of many damaged by falling trees in the historic storm 5 years ago today.
Today, July 11, is the fifth anniversary of the historic wind storm that damaged a wide area of Benton County, particularly Garrison, Vinton and the west edge of Urbana. The National Weather Service estimated the winds at 130 miles per hour that morning. Thousands of trees, hundreds of buildings and many vehicles were damaged. No serious injuries were reported, even though some residents reported having trees land in their bedroom and campers at the fairgrounds were overturned. "I had over 350 trees on my wooded lot. After the storm I had 12," says former resident Martin Blind. Below are some links to stories and photos from July 2011. Feel free to share your memories of the storm by commenting on this story. Garrison residents rally Slideshow, Day 1 Slideshow Day 2 Slideshow, Day 3 Storm clean-up Garrison damage slide show Vinton Airport damage The storm and other lessons of life