OTTAWA — A powerful line of thunderstorms packing heavy rain, hail and winds of up to 70 miles an hour swept through the area, knocking out power and scattering tree limbs, power lines and debris across roads and the countryside Monday night and early this morning. Power was out for some parts of Ottawa as well as other areas in eastern Kansas. City utility director Jim Bradley said electrical power has been restored to all city customers other than a handful of customers who have tree limbs on their home service lines or other problems. City circuits 7 and 11 were down for about two and a half hours lasting until this morning, Bradley said. That affected an area largely south of 9th Street and west of Main to Eisenhower Road. Two other circuits covering the southeast part of the city were also without power periodically. Although most of the power was restored a little before 2 a.m., some Ottawans reported being without power until much later. The storm knocked out power lines and power to other communities, including Pomona, Wellsville and Lane, said Franklin County emergency management director Alan Radcliffe. At one point, more than about 6,500 Westar customers in the Lawrence area and about 14,000 Kansas City Power & Light customers in eastern Kansas were without power. For the most part, little damage was immediately reported in Franklin County, Radcliffe said. Douglas County authorites reported several buildings in southwestern Lawrence were damaged. However, a semi-truck was blown onto its side on I-35 near Williamsburg, Radcliffe said. Dino Fabris, 44, of Texas, said a gust of wind caused the trailer to tip over. He wasn’t uninjured, but his passenger sustained a minor injury and was taken to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Northwest of Manhattan, U.S. 24 between U.S. 77 and K-113 was closed to all traffic Monday night because of the number of power lines that were knocked, the Kansas Dept. of Transportation said. KDOT said the highway could be reopened sometime today.
Tuesday, July 8, 10:30 a.m.; updated 11 a.m.
