County avoids serious damage

Much of Franklin County avoided severe damage from two thunderstorms Thursday night and early this morning, but some homeowners today were recovering from damage that included destroyed outbuildings and a blown-off roof.

The storms brought golf ball-sized hail, winds up to 80 mph and tornadic activity to parts of the county.

Tornado sirens were sounded Thursday night with the first storm and a thunderstorm warning was issued, Alan Radcliffe, Franklin County emergency management director, said.

He said the National Weather Service indicated rotation in the storm at mid-level and a possibility for tornadoes to develop.

Radcliffe said a funnel cloud was reported at I-35 and Eisenhower and again at Rock Creek and Nebraska roads.

The sirens were activated at Wellsville about 15 minutes later, he said, adding that another spotter reported a funnel cloud southwest of Wellsville at Texas and Shawnee roads.

Radcliffe said several residents called 911 when the sirens went off to ask why they were going off. He said people should instead seek shelter.

“They need to take cover and listen to local news media or their weather radios,” he said.

The county also saw varying sizes of hail — from penny-sized up to golf ball-sized hail, Radcliffe said, as well as 1.5 inches of rain in Ottawa.

He said the second storm, which came through at about 1 a.m. Friday, brought winds up to 80 mph.

“That’s when we had the structural damage,” Radcliffe said, adding that damage ranged from outbuildings that were damaged or destroyed to a house on the Douglas-Franklin County line west of Centropolis that lost its roof.

Radcliffe said a 2- to 3-mile wide stretch from Jackson and Delaware roads to Woodson and Florida roads reported the most damage. That included trees falling into homes, downed power lines and power outages and damaged buildings, he said.

Williamsburg and Appanoose elementary schools canceled classes today because of power outages, though power later was restored.

Wellsville schools were to begin two hours late today because of power outages. Power was restored at about 6:20 a.m., an official at the district office said.

Jim Bradley, city utilities director, said no significant problems or power outages were reported within Ottawa city limits.

“It was not bad at all,” he said.

Radcliffe said he expected to continue to receive calls today from homeowners discovering damage to their properties.

Following the storms, Ottawa is expected to be mostly cloudy today with a high of 65 degrees. A 30-percent chance of showers exists for today and tonight, according to the National Weather Service of Topeka.

Saturday is expected to begin cloudy and gradually become mostly sunny with a high of 59 degrees. Temperatures are expected to continue to climb through the weekend and into next week, with Sunday’s high reaching 70 degrees and Monday’s high topping 73 degrees.

Herald staff writer Jodie Garcia can be e-mailed at jgarcia@ottawaherald.com.