A downed tree in Addair.
Residents in western Iowa are cleaning up from the latest round of severe weather which included hail, high winds and heavy rain.
Adair Fire and Rescue Fire Chief Jordan Smith says there is significant damage, including shattered windows, paint stripped from siding and numerous power poles toppled. “Shortly after the storm went through, we had a 9-1-1 call about a person trapped in their car after a tree limb fell on top of it,” Smith says.
Power lines were entangled in the mess and crews had to wait nearly 90-minutes for power crews from Alliant to arrive before the victim could be extricated. Fortunately, the person in the vehicle — a man from Rockwell City — was not hurt.
Bob Kempf, director of emergency management for Adair and Guthrie County, is asking people to stay away from the City of Adair due to the damage from hail, fierce winds and heavy rain that
Hail ripped holes in this sign at a convenience store in Adair.
hammered the area Monday.
Kempf says there is “lots of hail damage, lots of wind damage, we’ve got power lines down.” He says he saw hail the size of eggs & ping pong balls.
There was extensive crop damage from the hail, heavy rain and wind. Crops west of Adair were left bent and twisted in some locations, to completely shredded and left with no more than stubble, elsewhere. Water gushed down through the fields and out of normally dry creeks into the nearest gully or ditch.
(Story and photos by Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)