Ark Valley News - Wind and rain

A large tree in the front yard of a home at First and Sheridan in Valley Center is split by the strong winds.

Wind and rain
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: June 30, 2019

Storm packs a punch for Valley Center

A powerful storm tore through Valley Center early June 15, uprooting trees, scattering limbs and knocking over electrical lines.

The hardest hit was the city's west side, where several transmission lines along the railroad tracks near Interurban, north of Fifth, were knocked down.

Many homes were without power for nearly 36 hours. Any army of Westar crews descended on Valley Center to replace the power poles.

Wind gusts were estimated at over 95 mph.

One resident in the 600 block of North Birch had a tree branch pierce the roof of a workshop. Another resident reported losing part of a roof.

On the other side of town, an RV at 81 Speedway was toppled by the wind. Some residents reported roof damage across the city.

No injuries were reported as a result of the storm.

Fire crews were kept busy all day June 15. They responded to lines down at Fifth and Interurban, where most of the damage was done, twice to the 500 block of West First, and twice to the 100 block of South Miles.

In Park City, officers responded to a wreck on I-135 about 1 a.m. A truck traveling south on the highway had its trailer overturned because of the wind. The truck slid into the ditch. No one was hurt.

About 2 a.m., a Park city officer found a sign at 93rd and I-135 that was blown over.

As daylight broke across the city June 15, some residents woke up to broken fences, broken tree branches and lawns filled with debris.

Chainsaws could be heard in several neighborhoods as residents began to cleanup.

Not normally accessible on weekends, the city opened the tree limb dump site in the Industrial Park June 15.

Trucks and trailers loaded with tree branches streamed in and out of the site nearly all weekend and into early this week.

The dump site was open 24 hours each day June 15 and 16 and was to remain that way through June 18.

"I don't know if we saw much time today without somebody there," Rodney Eggleston, the city's public works director, said June 17. "It's been pretty much a constant in and out all day."

The city has no plans to pick up limbs curbside.