Grundy County Emergency Management Director Glen Briggs reports there appears to have been two different tornado paths in Grundy County during storms the night of June 24th. He says one started at the south edge of Tindall and went east for about a mile and a half. The other path started near 37th and Onyx Lane and went to 45th and Route J. Damage surveys were continuing as of June 25th at 10 o’clock in the morning.
Briggs said “When it comes to tornado warnings, counties are big, and tornadoes are small. The tornado warning on June 24th did not include Trenton, which is why the sirens did not sound in Trenton. There are no warning sirens serving the rural areas of Grundy County.”
Briggs says tornado warnings in the past were issued for entire counties.
The widest spot for the damage path was a couple of hundred yards at best for the tornado tracking from Tindall to Galt. Any time there is severe weather, there is always a chance of a tornado.
Customers of Trenton Municipal Utilities, Grundy Electric, and Evergy lost power at different times on the night of June 24th. Briggs notes there were between 1,300 and 1,500 meters out in Grundy County at the peak of the power outages. As of June 25th about 9:30 in the morning, about 140 customers in the county were without power. He comments it is good to have multiple ways to get storm warning information in case of a power outage.
Briggs reports there were power lines down in Trenton and a lot of tree damage throughout the county. He had not seen a lot of structural damage as of June 25th at 9:30 in the morning. He says there were pockets of wind damage in the Laredo area and Trenton, but not all wind damage is tornadoes.
Rivers and creeks were running at full bank or slightly over flood stage.
Briggs says some gravel roads were unofficially closed as of the morning of June 25th, as the water was over them. He urges the public to not drive on flooded roads.
Grundy County had an enhanced risk of severe weather on June 24th, which is a three out of five on the severe weather possibility scale. The county has a slight risk on June 25th, which is a two out of five.
Briggs reports no injuries had been reported in the county as of the morning of June 25th due to June 24th’s storms, but Briggs expressed appreciation to the line crews, street department, and others working during June 24th’s storms. He reminds residents to be safe when cleaning up storms and ask for help from neighbors or friends.
