Tornado jumps over Lime Springs
Mon, 05/27/2019 - 5:47pm
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A little before 2 p.m. on Monday, May 27, several tornadoes were spotted in Howard County. Two different systems
produced separate tornadoes. The first went through the Riceville/Chester area while another went over Lime Springs.
It started out as little touchdowns between Elma and near Davis Corners. Just off Lilac, two miles west of Davis Corners, the
tornado tore off one of the blades on a wind turbine and then hit a hog confinement building a quarter-mile down the road.
The storm continued traveling northeast.
Lime Springs firefighters/storm watchers Cody Bakken and Levi Hart saw the tornado on the ground and watched it cross
from west to east over Hwy. 63 about a half-mile south of town. They saw it lift up over the bins at A&K Elevator 3, south of
town.
Howard County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Beckman relayed what State Tropper Shawn Wuchter saw. "He said the tornado went
over the town at roof level."
Trees were uprooted or broken off along the tornado's path, some trees fell near Spring Apartments, the Betty Roesler home
and Dawn Fairbanks home. It traveled a block and took down a couple more trees, along with a strip of shingles from the
Brenda Roethler home. "I couldn't even walk because the house was shaking so bad!"
Behind the Keith Klomp home, three different sets of electric wires fell onto the roadway at the old elementary's corner,
which Alliant Energy was working on.
In addition, many of the flags put up for Memorial Day by the Junior Community Club got bent pretty good by the strong
winds.
Minutes after the storm passed through, locals were driving the streets looking at damage, clogging the streets. Then the
pickups, trailers and chainsaws came out and many pitched in to clear roads and clean up yards. After the storm watch was
over, many of the firefighters also helped clean up debris.
Lime Springs Fire Chief Nate Schwickerath said, "We dodged a bullet. It could have been a lot worse." He also mentioned
that every time the department goes on storm watch, the town's tornado shelter (Spring Ahead Learning Center) is open.
There was little structural damage and no injuries. Look for more info shortly.