WAKEENEY, Kan. (KSNW) – Trego County authorities are tallying the damage after a storm carrying large hail damaged homes and businesses throughout the county.
Emergency Management Director Kathleen Fabrizius said softball-sized hail hit the county, overturning vehicles, downing power lines and causing accidents across the county.
She said windows at the courthouse, a nursing home, and the WaKeeney Family Care Center were blown out. The hospital was closed and patients were routed to the emergency room during the storm. Power was out for several hours in WaKeeney and parts of the county.
Curtis Cowgill and his family was about an hour behind the storms and saw all the damage left behind as they were driving eastbound on I-70.
“Saw a tractor-trailer turned upside down, headed eastbound and a fifth wheeler tractor-trailer turned over a shortly after that, on the westbound side, I started to see a line of cars pulled off to the shoulder, their windshields were all smashed up and busted up,” said Cowgill.
It is something Sasha Townsend, a traveler caught in the storm, can attest to.
“The hail started hitting, and I was in the front seat and the hail shattered the front windows so I got in the back and the hail shattered the back window. And the hail was coming in and there was glass everywhere.”
Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Tod Hileman said it was that kind of damage that not even they could escape as well.
“The reports I’m getting right now there are at least two trooper cars that are severely damaged, windows broken out, extensive body damage.”
Hileman said thick fog developed in the area, causing numerous crashes.
“It was a normal day out here, and then all of a sudden, pandemonium hit and troopers were going west toward Trego County because of the storm coming in,” said Hileman.
According to the manager of the Super 8 Motel in WaKeeney, all of the windows on the north side of the motel have been broken.
“Every window is shattered. Inside is just glass everywhere. AC's are ruined. Everything,” said Kelli Adrian, Super 8 employee.
Full article and 58 images at: http://ksn.com/2017/08/10/storms-baseball-sized-hail-hits-wakeeney/
Emergency Management Director Kathleen Fabrizius said softball-sized hail hit the county, overturning vehicles, downing power lines and causing accidents across the county.
She said windows at the courthouse, a nursing home, and the WaKeeney Family Care Center were blown out. The hospital was closed and patients were routed to the emergency room during the storm. Power was out for several hours in WaKeeney and parts of the county.
Curtis Cowgill and his family was about an hour behind the storms and saw all the damage left behind as they were driving eastbound on I-70.
“Saw a tractor-trailer turned upside down, headed eastbound and a fifth wheeler tractor-trailer turned over a shortly after that, on the westbound side, I started to see a line of cars pulled off to the shoulder, their windshields were all smashed up and busted up,” said Cowgill.
It is something Sasha Townsend, a traveler caught in the storm, can attest to.
“The hail started hitting, and I was in the front seat and the hail shattered the front windows so I got in the back and the hail shattered the back window. And the hail was coming in and there was glass everywhere.”
Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Tod Hileman said it was that kind of damage that not even they could escape as well.
“The reports I’m getting right now there are at least two trooper cars that are severely damaged, windows broken out, extensive body damage.”
Hileman said thick fog developed in the area, causing numerous crashes.
“It was a normal day out here, and then all of a sudden, pandemonium hit and troopers were going west toward Trego County because of the storm coming in,” said Hileman.
According to the manager of the Super 8 Motel in WaKeeney, all of the windows on the north side of the motel have been broken.
“Every window is shattered. Inside is just glass everywhere. AC's are ruined. Everything,” said Kelli Adrian, Super 8 employee.
Full article and 58 images at: http://ksn.com/2017/08/10/storms-baseball-sized-hail-hits-wakeeney/