Communities cleaning up after storms

[JULY 24, 2006]  Logan County communities saw mostly minor damage from two storm systems that rampaged the area last week. Street crews, fire departments and utility linemen were kept busy with numerous limbs falling on lines and knocking out power and phone service. A number of large trees were downed.

The Wednesday evening storm resulted in half of Emden and Hartsburg with power outages, New Holland was completely knocked out, and Elkhart had some loss. Most areas had their power restored quickly.

On Thursday morning, lightning struck a utility pole near Neal Tire, shattering the pole. Numerous businesses, the Logan County Courthouse and Family Medical Center all experienced power disruptions that led to computer problems.

Firemen in communities throughout the county responded to numerous reports of downed wires sparking, in one instance on a house roof.

Terry Storer, assistant director of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency, said that their agency was not called out for anything.

Logan County escaped the fiercest part of the storm on Wednesday evening. It was a divided county that evening, with near-zero visibility, rain and high winds to the west of Interstate 55, and almost no rain and limited wind to the north and east.

The storm consolidated and gained intensity as it left Logan County, moving to the south and causing lots of damage in Springfield once again this year. Then it curved to fishtail and hit the St. Louis area hard.

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