Winds batter county
Staff writer
Much of the county, particularly the Hillsboro area, was hammered by wind and thunderstorms Monday night.
County road and bridge crews out from 1 until 9 a.m. Tuesday — some later — cutting limbs and trees off county roads.
“The biggest damage was probably trees down,” emergency manager Marcy Hostetler said. “You had the smaller limbs and branches, and a lot of trees up to 12 inches were down. I think a lot of that damage happened just before the storm when the winds hit.”
Winds of 60 mph were reported before the storm hit.
A tree split at Tabor College, Hostetler said, and was felled by wind, not struck by lightning.
Trees also went down on several county roads, such as Kanza, Nighthawk, and Jade Rds.
A glass window at Bill and Essie’s BBQ in Marion was blown out and smashed on the sidewalk. It was cleaned up Tuesday afternoon.
Limbs of 8 to 10 inches in diameter were felled, and a power failure was reported in Burns.
“I’m still having reports come in, but it looks like Hillsboro has the most damage,” Hostetler said Tuesday night.
Before the storm, lightning hit an awning over Hillsboro’s Sinclair gasoline pumps, but torrential rain soon followed and put out the fire.
Firefighters from Hillsboro, Marion, and Durham were dispatched, but when Hillsboro Fire Chief Ben Steketee arrived, he reported the fire already was out.
Elsewhere in Hillsboro, a tree was uprooted and landed right in front of a car, crushing a fence as it fell.
“Then we had a hay bale fire,” Hostetler said. “Evergy was called on a tree that went down on Kanza Rd.”
During the storm, water flowed over Goldenrod Rd. near Durham.
“The water was all the way over that road,” Hostetler said. “It fills up the creek west of Durham by Goldenrod pretty quick.”
The storm didn’t hit the county evenly. Some areas had more rain and others not so much.
Hostetler said Marion Reservoir’s level had been lowered enough before the storm that the rain didn’t have much of an effect.
“I did not run any chainsaws at all, so I didn’t get in any trouble for it,” Hostetler said. “We did share all this information with National Weather Service. Usually you let them know what damage you have in your county so they can judge the severity of the storm.”
She encouraged anyone has damage reports to email or call.
“I think many people forget they should tell the county this,” she said.
She will be speaking in the near future at Hillsboro and Goessel city council meetings about reporting storm damage.
Monday night’s thunderstorm wasn’t the only weather danger in the forecast Tuesday.
Temperatures are predicted to be above 90 degrees for all but two days of the next two weeks, and those days are predicted to be near 90 degrees.
“One of the things I keep saying is make sure you are drinking enough water and staying hydrated,” Hostetler said. “Make sure you are thinking about your pets, taking them water and helping them stay hydrated.”
People who don’t have air conditioning should keep in mind there are air-conditioned places to go such as libraries, city buildings, and other places.”