Carissa Brandt shows off the walnut-sized hail that had collected in her grandparents’ driveway on Locust Avenue. (Photo by Corey Preston)
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Taking Stock Of The Damage
Monday’s Storm Hit Northern Linn County Hard, Tearing Down A Home Near State Line
By Corey Preston, Coreypreston@miconews.com
The powerful storm that swept through the area Monday left its mark on northern Linn County in the Linn Valley and La Cygne area, although the most extensive damage was done to a home further south.
Linn County Rural Fire Chief Doug Barlet reported many fallen power lines and trees down in the area. He said the storm, in which winds are reported to have reached 80 mph, appears to have taken down part of a home on the eastern portion of Kansas Highway 52.
“It did take a house, or a portion of a house, down out there on the way to Amoret,” Barlet said. Amoret, Mo., lies on the Linn-Bates county line.
As a warm sun sapped up some of the water that had swamped the city of La Cygne so quickly, residents worked to remove fallen trees and limbs that littered their yards and rake smaller branches and leaves that coated driveways and homes.
As Margaret Wilson dragged more manageable tree limbs to her garage on Walnut Street, she assessed a massive limb that had landed in the flooded ditch along the road.
“I think they’re a little too busy to help me with that right now,” Wilson said as sirens wailed a mile away.
Meanwhile on Locust Street, Jeff Fulk assessed the damage the large chunks of hail had done to the siding on his house, while his grandchildren, Carissa and Joshua Brandt, played with the remnants of the hail sprinkling Fulk’s driveway.
“You can see where it took little pieces right out of it,” Fulk said.
With a number of rural fire trucks out stormspotting, County Clerk David Lamb reported that three county trucks were damaged by the golfball-sized hail. Two trucks suffered broken or cracked windshields, Lamb said, and one saw damage to lights atop the truck.
“There are definitely a lot of limbs down, a lot of trees down, power lines ... some areas without power,” he said.
In front of the Family Cafe on Kansas Highway 152, Sabrina Benson and Shelley Weitman played in the foot of water that had flooded a portion of the parking lot, catching bugs in plastic foam cups.
While the two young girls giggled, enjoying their sudden swimming pool, staff inside the restaurant said they’d been told the power would be back quickly, but they were still waiting.
Kansas City Power & Light Co. reported that approximately 1,400 homes and businesses were without power in the La Cygne area Monday afternoon. By Tuesday morning, KCPL had restored power to all but roughly 25 homes in Linn County, and company officials said they hoped to have full service restored by the end of the day.
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Linn County Rural Fire Chief Doug Barlet reported many fallen power lines and trees down in the area. He said the storm, in which winds are reported to have reached 80 mph, appears to have taken down part of a home on the eastern portion of Kansas Highway 52.
“It did take a house, or a portion of a house, down out there on the way to Amoret,” Barlet said. Amoret, Mo., lies on the Linn-Bates county line.
As a warm sun sapped up some of the water that had swamped the city of La Cygne so quickly, residents worked to remove fallen trees and limbs that littered their yards and rake smaller branches and leaves that coated driveways and homes.
As Margaret Wilson dragged more manageable tree limbs to her garage on Walnut Street, she assessed a massive limb that had landed in the flooded ditch along the road.
“I think they’re a little too busy to help me with that right now,” Wilson said as sirens wailed a mile away.
Meanwhile on Locust Street, Jeff Fulk assessed the damage the large chunks of hail had done to the siding on his house, while his grandchildren, Carissa and Joshua Brandt, played with the remnants of the hail sprinkling Fulk’s driveway.
“You can see where it took little pieces right out of it,” Fulk said.
With a number of rural fire trucks out stormspotting, County Clerk David Lamb reported that three county trucks were damaged by the golfball-sized hail. Two trucks suffered broken or cracked windshields, Lamb said, and one saw damage to lights atop the truck.
“There are definitely a lot of limbs down, a lot of trees down, power lines ... some areas without power,” he said.
In front of the Family Cafe on Kansas Highway 152, Sabrina Benson and Shelley Weitman played in the foot of water that had flooded a portion of the parking lot, catching bugs in plastic foam cups.
While the two young girls giggled, enjoying their sudden swimming pool, staff inside the restaurant said they’d been told the power would be back quickly, but they were still waiting.
Kansas City Power & Light Co. reported that approximately 1,400 homes and businesses were without power in the La Cygne area Monday afternoon. By Tuesday morning, KCPL had restored power to all but roughly 25 homes in Linn County, and company officials said they hoped to have full service restored by the end of the day.
Comments on "Taking Stock Of The Damage"
Comments are limited to 200 words or less.Bobbie Utterback wrote on Jun 5, 2008 12:38 PM:
" We live on Taylor Road in La Cygne and it totaled our roof and leveled our garden. We had about 3 inches of rain in 30 minutes. We were swamped, and the wind was unbelievable. It kept changing directions. Luckily, our hail was not as big-but there was an awful lot of it. It truly felt more like a tornado, I felt a tremendous pressure pushing downward and then suddenly the pressure went upward. It sounded like the house was going to go up in the air. My ears popped and water started pouring into my kitchen through the dry wall seams. "