Severe Storms Hit Grundy County

May 28, 2004 | Headline News

For the second time in less than a week, Grundy County residents took cover as severe storms roared through the area. While Monday?s storm left little damage in its wake, a severe storm Thursday afternoon resulted in damage to scores of vehicles, businesses and homes due to large hail and strong winds.

The National Weather Service reported wind speeds of up to 90 miles per hour accompanying the storm, which hit Trenton at about 3 p.m. The sirens in Trenton sounded, sending residents to their basements as a tornado warning was issued. There were several unconfirmed reports of tornados, although none were confirmed to have touched the ground.

The downtown area seemed to take the brunt of the storm, with 18 windows broken at the Grundy County Courthouse and several downtown businesses sustained damage in the form of broken windows. Yellow caution tape was erected around several areas to keep the public away from broken glass and the danger of falling glass.

While the storm took its toll on personal property, there were only three storm-related injuries which required treatment at Wright Memorial Hospital and those were for cuts. The hospital itself sustained up to 100 panes of broken glass and all of the skylights were broken. Damage was reported to only five patient rooms, according to WMH CEO John Woodrich, who said the facility remained fully operational during and after the storm.

There were also no significant power outages blamed on the storm. Chad Davis, utility director at Trenton Municipal Utilities, said TMU had less than 100 customers affected by outages and all power had been restored by 6:30 p.m. It was noted, however, that several street lights were knocked out by the hail and will be replaced as parts become available. The local Aquila office indicated there were only three outages reported, which were all able to be quickly repaired, according to Sheryl King of the local office. J.D. Pash, line superintendent for Grundy Electric Cooperative, said the cooperative had two or three small groups of customers and many individuals who were without power for a short time. Most of those, he said, were due to fuses knocked out by the large hail. Pash said the outages followed a straight line from Harrison County to Grundy County, which was the path of the storm.

Perhaps those who sustained the most damage were farmers, whose crops had begun the growing season in earnest. According to Tom Nee, county executive for the Farm Service Agency, said there was substantial damage to the crops in the county. Nee estimated that 15,000 acres of the 23,000 acres of corn in the county has been affected, mostly in the six southernmost townships of the county. Nee said about 14,000 acres of soybeans appears to have been affected and another 3,000 acres or about 75 percent of the wheat crop. Nee said it remains to be seen if the heads will come back up with time and be able to be harvested. In addition, Nee estimated that about 1,100 to 1,200 acres of alfalfa hay was affected, mostly in the areas that had not had their first cutting. Some corn and soybeans will have to be replanted.

As for other damage sustained by farmers, Nee said windows in buildings and tractors were broken as well as outbuildings being damaged by the hail.

With everything included, Nee said he would estimate about $500,000 in damage in the county. He said he is filing a report and is hoping that his agency and Rural Development will have emergency funds allocated to help those affected, especially with the high number of low-income and elderly persons who were either uninsured or underinsured.

Law enforcement and emergency crews were kept busy during the storm, with motor vehicle accidents reported, including a mishap on Mable Street that resulted in damage to the Grundy County Museum. Trenton Police Sgt. Kris Schmidt reported that a sport utility vehicle driven by Abbie Tucker of 2007 Mable St., lost control of her vehicle on the ice-covered roadway due to the hail storm. She rounded the curve by the museum and struck the west side of the building, causing extensive damage to the west wall. Ms. Tucker was not injured in the mishap, but her vehicle sustained extensive damage.

Another accident in the 100 block of East 17th Street was first reported as involving downed power lines, although those lines were later determined to be for cable television.

Trenton Police Chief Bob Lewis said the 9-1-1 system remained operational during the storm, although the in-house server went down after lighting struck the motherboard. A Trenton Municipal Utilities crew got the emergency generator running manually and parts have been ordered to make repairs. Lewis said that callers could phone 9-1-1 at all times during the storm.

While many residents will be using the holiday weekend to clean up from the storm damage, the National Weather Service is calling for additional rain and possibly thunderstorms over the weekend.