Greenleaf State Park Sustains Major Tree Damage In EF1 Tornado

Greenleaf State Park isn't a safe place to be after Tuesday's EF1 tornado caused major tree damage.

Park representatives say it is the most damage they've ever seen.

More than 100 trees were ripped out of the ground. Even more have the tops and branches broken.

Despite the long road ahead in cleaning, park managers are thankful no one was hurt.

At every turn and every step, there's a tree down, split in two and branches everywhere.

“If it would have fell toward he residence, it would have torn up the residence,” assistant park manager Joseph Hahn said.

Due to recent storms and heavy wind, the park will stay closed for a while.

Broken branches hanging in the trees still pose a threat to park visitors.

"We just have limbs and debris all over the place and some of them have sharp points,”

At least 150 trees were uprooted. Some of them over 100 years old.

In other places broken tree branches ripped through roofs or just missed falling on buildings.

Hahn says if the storm had to come, at least it came at a time when few people would be impacted.

“It worked out great,” he said. “If this would have happened on a Friday or Saturday, almost all of these sites are full on Friday and Saturday, and we would have had a lot of damage to campers and things."

Downed trees blocked the road for some, but they weren't hurt.

Hahn says progress has been made, and he looks forward to being able to open up once more.

Next week, outside contractors will come in to remove the broken branches.

It could take three weeks to reopen.