(Le Mars) — Shortly after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, strong winds of about 60 mph. struck Le Mars and other Plymouth County communities, knocking down trees and power lines. Fortunately, the strong winds lasted only about 15 minutes. For a while, city officials had wondered if there was going to be a repeat of the strong wind storm that struck Le Mars last year during Ice Cream Days, that had downed trees on nearly every street. Reports of at least six trees had fallen across streets, blocking traffic, as a result of Tuesday’s wind storm. Authorities checked out a fallen tree at the 10 block of 3rd Avenue SE where a pick-up truck was caught beneath a fallen tree. The driver was shaken up over the incident, but was uninjured. City crews had to use a pay loader tractor to remove the tree that was on top of the vehicle. A few households near 1033 6th Avenue SE had lost power due to a tree that had fallen on a power line. Mid-American Energy crews were on the scene by 11:00 p.m. and had quickly restored power to the neighborhood. Trees had fallen on the north side of the Plymouth County Courthouse on 2nd Street SE, 21 3rd Street SE, 8th Street SW, 2nd Avenue SW, and the 300 Block of 3rd Avenue SW.
City crews will start picking up branches on Wednesday morning, but they ask residents to stack tree limbs next to the curb. The tree dump site, located west of town, will be open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8 p.m.
