Rallying Together

After Mayfield’s candle factory was overcome by the storm, the EF4 continued to tear through downtown, leveling multiple large, well-built, multi-story brick buildings. The city’s post office, city hall, fire station, police station and courthouse were all heavily damaged or completely destroyed. 

With so much large debris burying the area, transportation in or out was nearly impossible. That’s when Mayfield-Grace fire rescue team captain Jason Buckman, along with Boyd Cat’s own branch manager, got to work with a Cat 308 CR Mini Excavator to clear a path for four school buses to shuttle retirement home residents to safety. They were followed closely behind by Boyd Cat’s delivery driver in a Cat 299D Compact Track Loader.

“We were clearing telephone and stoplight poles because they were laying across the street along with bricks from buildings that were strewn everywhere,” said Buckman. “There was never a time in my life that I thought I would be in downtown Mayfield running an excavator, grabbing cars, picking them up with a small excavator and just literally slinging them to the side just to get one lane open to clear a path for the school buses.”

As efforts continued, a Caterpillar field representative was able to procure 12 Cat 299 D3 Series Compact Track Loaders for local contractors to assist in the cleanup process. A Cat telehandler was also provided by Boyd Cat to aid in unloading relief supplies.

With power knocked out across the region’s grid, critical operations like sewer, water, banks and cleanup sought standby power sources to maintain necessary services. Special care was needed to address the situation at Mayfield Grain Company, which took a direct hit from the EF4.

Salvage operation experts Callan Salvage & Appraisal were called in to minimize grain loss. But to do so, they needed durable rental generators to continuously run their specialized equipment for the job.

Boyd Cat provided four rental units, including 30, 60, 100 and 500 kW generators. These were used to power a conveying system used under the grain elevator to load semi-trucks, portable augers to cut holes in the bottom of damaged bins, scales for weighing grain and a temporary office to manage the salvage.

“We rent a lot, and it’s always Cat power. We will not use anything other than Cat generators because we know dependable they are,” said Ron Callan, owner of Callan Salvage & Appraisal.

In the end, Ron and his team helped save 7,600 trailer loads of grain weighing about 20 tons each. That resulted in more than $30 million worth of grain, reducing the loss for the grain elevator and the insurance company by 70%.