(Le Mars) — (sfx -chainsaw) Clean up from Friday night’s storm continues as the
sound of chainsaws could be heard throughout the town of Le Mars over the weekend.
Downed trees line the streets of the “Ice Cream Capital of the World.” Winds of at least 68 mph. were reported from Friday evening’s storm. Following
Friday’s storm, Le Mars city officials declared the city a “state of emergency”.
City crews from all departments were called late Friday evening to help move the
trees from blocking the streets. City crews and contractors used pay loader
construction tractors to move the trees, and within three hours every street in Le
Mars was open to traffic and emergency vehicles. Brad Wurth of the Wurth Tree
Services of Le Mars says he has had a busy weekend.
Wurth Tree Service Of Le Mars Works On A Damaged Tree From Friday’s Storm
Wurth has been in the tree trimming business for more than 20 years, and he says
Friday’s storm was the worse he has seen.
On Friday evening, the Le Mars Police estimated that every street in town had a
tree that was damaged from the storm. Wurth echoes the police department’s
assessment.
The tree service owner talks about the largest tree that he worked on after the
storm.
Three utility poles along 12th Street southeast snapped off during the storm
causing extensive power outages. At one time, MidAmerican Energy estimated as many
as 1683 Le Mars customers were without power. Most of Le Mars’ residents were able
to have their power restored on Saturday, although MidAmerican crews were seen
still working on Sunday afternoon. As of 2:00 p.m. Sunday, there were still 171 Le
Mars residents and businesses without power. The storm also knocked out the power
to Merrill and even Craig. According to the MidAmerican Energy website, 11
customers at Craig, and seven customers in Merrill were without power.
Three Utility Poles Snapped Off During Friday’s Storms.
Central Le Mars around Foster Park and the Cleveland Park neighborhood looked to
have the most extensive damage. Although several hundred trees were damaged, very
little reports of any structural damaged occurred in Le Mars.
Fallen Tree Located At Cleveland Park
Eric Dahm of Le Mars Looks Over Some Downed Tree Limbs Located At His Mother’s Home Located In The Cleveland Park Neighborhood.
The outfield fence of the Gehlen Catholic High School softball field was damaged and had fallen due to the strong winds.
Friday Night Storm Damages Area Crops
(Le Mars) — The strong storm also affected many corn and soybean fields located
northwest of Le Mars. Several acres of both corn and soybeans were severly damaged
from strong winds and hail. Iowa State University Extension Crop Specialist, Joel
DeJong says an informational meeting has been scheduled for Monday afternoon, June
20th at 1:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Keith Koerselman farm inside his
shed located at 10705 Juniper Avenue. An area of northwest Plymouth County
stretching from Highway 75 heading west to county road K-18 between the Plymouth –
Sioux County border to the north and State Highway 3 to the south suffered damage
from the storm. DeJong says he will be discussing and demonstrating information
that will help area farmers evaluate the extent of damage done to the corn and
soybeans that were hit with winds and hail.
