Rescue effort saves livestock after nearly century-old barn is claimed by straight-line winds in July 18 storm

by Lissa Blake

For almost 100 years, the historic wooden structure on the Mahr farm on Washington Road in rural Dorchester has housed countless livestock and bales of hay and straw.
But the storm that hit northeast Iowa Wednesday, July 18 that downed trees, flattened crops and caused severe weather emergency sirens to sound in area communities was also just too much for that historic structure to bear.
The barn, built in 1913, fell to straight-line winds last Wednesday, trapping 22 head of five- to eight-month-old dairy calves within its crumbled walls.
Wally Mahr, Jr. discovered the situation shortly after the storm, and started making some calls. “He first called 911 and got the Eitzen (MN) Fire Department on its way. Then he made some calls to family and friends,” said his mother, Marianne Mahr.
Within a short time, 20-30 people arrived on the scene, and even before the Eitzen Fire Department’s quick response, the group was using forklifts borrowed from a nearby construction site to “airlift” the calves. (Casey Mahr works for Perry Novak Electric, who owned one of the machines.)
“It was an extremely dangerous situation,” said Wally Mahr, Sr.
Wally Jr., Mason Fahey (grandson of Wally Sr. and Marianne Mahr), and Reggie Berns worked the forklifts and skidloaders to extract the calves while the Eitzen Fire Department used equipment to suspend and stabilize the roof.
“You never know what’s going to happen when you go out on a call,” said Eitzen Fire Chief Doug Meyer.
When the mission was completed, 17 of 22 calves had been rescued; however, a couple have since died of internal injuries. “The vet said we could lose additional animals from internal injuries for up to a week,” said Luke Mahr.
When asked about insurance coverage, Wally Sr. said while the structure itself was too old to insure, the contents of the barn, which included several thousand bales of hay and straw, were insured.
“We’re still not sure how much of the hay and straw we might be able to salvage, because of the nails and everything,” said Luke.
Some of the Mahrs' corn crop was also flattened by the winds, but by the end of the week it looked like most of it was returning to standing.
Wally Sr. and Marianne, who have been farming for 60 years, said this is only the second time they have ever seen storms do this much damage. “The first time was when we were putting up some Harvestore silos about 30 years ago. The guy was putting the last ring on and a storm came. When it was over, the silo had tipped and was leaning up against the other one,” he said.

GRATEFUL
Luke and Wally Mahr, Sr. said they are grateful for the quick response of friends, family and neighbors, and the Eitzen Fire Department. “They’re a good fire department, I’ll tell you,” said Wally Sr.
“They are a great bunch of guys who do a heck of a good job,” added Luke. “I’d also like to thank Eli Slabough and Edward Swartzentruber. Without these two men, Wally (Jr.), Mason, Reggie, and the EFD, we wouldn’t have been able to lift the barn enough to get them (the calves) out.”
Amanda Mahr, who farms with her father, Luke, said she was touched by the community support. “The feeling of defeat cut deep, but the fact that everyone was ready and willing to help meant so much,” she said.