Strong Storm Causes Damage In CountyA strong storm blew through Kosciusko County Monday night, knocking down power lines and trees along the way.
One large tree fell between the homes of Helen Winters, 2710 Patterson Road, Warsaw, and her neighbor.
“There’s only one large tree down, but another tree in the back yard, about the top of it is taken off. My house, I think, is OK aside from the gutter in the back,” she said.
The gutter is still on the house but was damaged from all the limbs that fell on it.
Winters said she was home when the tree came down and it was very scary.
“I was looking out my screen door at the storm and all of a sudden the trees started swirling, and then we heard this huge boom! We thought the tree was coming down on the house. Thankfully, it fell between our houses, which was perfect. But it was really frightening,” she said.
Winters said she didn’t lose power until about 4 a.m. this morning and it was still off as of 9 a.m. today.
“It could have been a lot worse. My house is still standing and I’m still here. It almost seemed like a tornado to me, the way how fast it moved,” she said.
One accident, seven alarms, three fire-related calls and 18 road hazards such as downed trees were attributed to the storm in the county, according to Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Chris McKeand.
Ryan Coble, Warsaw Police Department PIO, said the city had four calls for road blocks due to downed trees. There also was one report of a tree fallen on a powerline and pole on Brookview Drive.
Trees were reported down and in the road along East Clark Street, Arthur Street, East CR 75N and North CR 175E.
WPD also responded to two alarms.
National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Brown said they’ve received calls from fire departments and the public, and people have provided photos of some of the damage, which will be helpful in assessing the storm.
Brown said if they get pictures of a cluster of trees and they’re flat, broken and in one direction, that’s more likely to have been caused by straight-line winds. If the photos show trees lying in different directions or a swirling pattern in a field, that could be attributed to a tornado.
Brown said they also look at radar data, which they pair with the reports the NWS receives.
Initial wind reports from Monday’s storm indicate wind speeds were 30 to 40 mph, but tree damage could put estimates in the 40 to 50 mph range.
“We’ll continue to look at the damage,”?he said.
Brown said an important note is that tree damage could be attributed to more than just wind speed. The health of a tree and decay also could be factors. “Not all trees are equal,” he said.
For tonight, he said thunderstorms are in the forecast. Specifically for Kosciusko County, he said there’s a 40 to 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with the best chance between 2 p.m. and midnight. There’s a small risk of severe thunderstorms.
Rainfall Monday in Kosciusko County ranged from about a half inch to 1½ inches, Brown said, with the southern part getting the least and the northern portion the most.
Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock was checking out the areas with reports of storm damage late this morning. He saw the damage around Pike Lake and Arthur Street, then headed toward the housing addition just northwest of Titus Funeral Home.
“I haven’t seen any real structural damage,” Rock said, but he said there were trees lying in the same direction, indicating to him it was probably not a tornado that came through the area.
“For the most part, we had a wind event,” Rock said.
