OttawaHerald.com -- Community News. Community Connections.

	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

2009-11-07

2009-11-04

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:04 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Boyd Allen, owner and operator of Quality Tree Service Inc. of Osawatomie, trims a tree limb Tuesday that had fallen on a home in the 400 block of Oak Street in Lane during an overnight storm. Thunderstorms brought high wind and heavy rain to the area late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

Damage piles up in wake of storm

Franklin County declared a disaster area

By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer

It was a tree that Steve Miner says saved his house from additional damage.

Trees were uprooted in Miner’s home near Rantoul following Monday night’s batch of thunderstorms and high winds. The top of one tree even snapped off and landed about 20 feet from his front door, he said.

But another tree stopped the broken tree before it hit Miner’s house.

“The tree that is leaning on the other tree is around 40 to 50 feet tall and would have hit my house if the other was not there to catch it,” he said.

Recovery efforts are continuing throughout Franklin and Anderson counties after Monday night’s storm.

Franklin County Emergency Management officials declared a disaster in Franklin County Tuesday afternoon, mainly because of road damage from the storm.

There were more than 3,000 people without power in the county Tuesday afternoon, Vickie Eckard, coordinator for county emergency management, said.

Eckard said several areas suffered significant tree damage, and at least two outbuildings were destroyed while five or six houses were damaged by high winds.

Parts of the county, including Lane and Richmond, remained without electricity this morning, Alan Radcliffe, director of emergency management, said.

Radcliffe surveyed the area for damage Tuesday. He said the worst part of the storm traveled along the Franklin-Anderson county line.

The Red Cross is working with a few families that suffered major damage to their homes, he said. Other homes experienced minor damage, he said. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management also is helping with cleanup.

“Several homes have been hit by tree limbs and stuff like that, but it’s just minor damage,” he said. “They’re still livable.”

Radcliffe said most of the county experienced road damage.

“The public works department was out yesterday, and it will be out again today,” he said.

In Ottawa, public works crews will make at least two complete rounds of cleanup of tree limbs and hope to be completed by July 2, a news release from the department said.

Residents are encouraged to stack limbs parallel and close to the street curb. Collections cannot be made in alleys.

Radcliffe said cleanup around the county will continue, and officials will continue to monitor for flooding. There is a flood warning for Pottawatomie Creek, he said.

“Flooding of the major tributaries is what we’ll worry about today,” he said.

Damage was more significant in Anderson County, Jennifer Tarwater, with the Red Cross, said. Power is not expected to be restored in some parts of the county for four or five days, she said.

Tarwater said a shelter to serve as a cooling center for high temperatures and as a fixed feeding site will be established. It likely will be at the Anderson County Junior-Senior High School in Garnett, she said.

Those looking to volunteer to staff the shelter and serve meals can call (913) 321-6314.

Jenalea Myers can be e-mailed at jmyers@ottawaherald.com.