Citizens survey storm damage, baby owls rescued

WARREN CO., Ky.-“We’re okay, so for that I’m grateful,” said Alvaton citizen Julianna Waller-Martinez. 

Powerful storms ripped through Alvaton Thursday night. 

“My husband was inside our kitchen holding our French doors closed because the water was so powerful, we had a lot of water that came in there,” said Waller-Martinez. 

Torrential downpours, blinding hail and gusty winds came through the area.

Waller-Martinez was devastated as she surveyed the damage in her yard off of Old Scottsville Road. There were dozens of downed trees, one even snapping in half and landing in her pool. Wood and metal fences were ripped apart, and her yard is littered with debris. 

She said they were lucky to be okay. 

“It’s kind of devastating, just the loss of beauty. We worked really hard to make the property beautiful, but I’m grateful our home, and our family, our family number one that we’re okay,” said Waller-Martinez. 

But there’s a sunny side to this stormy situation. Nearby, Alvaton firefighters were called to a broken tree and stranded baby owls inside without their mother. 

“Residents at that location who had found them had gotten one that had fallen on the ground and was still alive and they had placed it in a box,” said Alvaton firefighter Cameron Wallace. 

Three more were stuck inside…firemen rushed to get them out. 

“I picked up the first owl, covered it, put it in a bucket that way it wouldn’t get scared, and lowered it down in the bucket to the people on the ground. The other two got scared and went up against the back where another hole was so we took another ladder and pretty much nudged them into a fishing net and caught them,” said Wallace. 

They’ll recover at a wildlife rehab center and then be released back into the wild.