Dog narrowly escapes injury when uprooted tree lands on doghouse

BLACKSBURG – Strong winds caused severe damage at the Saville Farm in Blacksburg overnight, toppling trees, power lines and even ripping off a roof. Despite a close call, the family's dog was uninjured after a massive tree landed on its doghouse.

Lisa Saville Moye, one of the owners of the property, said the strong wind gusts sounded like a jet flying over the farm Wednesday night.  Around 10 p.m. Moye said, the wind ripped a metal roof off one of the buildings. In the daylight, parts of that roof can be seen crumpled; scattered across the ground with parts of the lumber wedged into the lawn. That building sits only feet away from one of their homes on the farm. The home was spared any damage.

Moye said while they were checking on the building, another strong burst of wind blew a massive tree over next door, landing on the family doghouse. The family's dog, Copper, was inside the doghouse at the time. Moye said the family was able to get the dog from the house. Despite shaking from fear, he was uninjured.

"My niece carried him inside her home. He was scared to leave the doghouse, so she had to go in and get him. He slept inside last night, which usually he doesn't like to do," Moye said.

Downed trees and debris scatter the Saville Farm, some of it even damaging livestock fencing. None of the horses, sheep, cattle or other animals were injured, but there is much work left to be done in the coming weeks to get the farm back in working order.