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Web posted
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Storm winds up to 75 mph
By ROY GRABER
Courier Editor
The heavy winds that struck northwestern Cowley County on Sunday evening reached speeds of up to 75 miles per hour, Cowley County Emergency Management Director Brian Stone said.
Stone met with Chance Hayes of the National Weather Service, who toured several sites that received some of the worst damage.
"We didn't go everywhere, but we went to some of the worse spots," said Stone. "He determined that the wind must have reached speeds from 70 to 75 miles per hour to create the kind of wind damage that was out there."
Udall Fire Chief Randy Hoffman and others with his department assessed the damage across areas hit by the winds, and noted as many as half of the roofs in the Udall city limits may have suffered some form of wind damage.
"It was mostly the homes that had west or northwest slopes," Hoffman said.
"I quit counting after a while, there were so many of them."
When asked what was the most surprising thing about the storm damage, he said it was how widespread the storm was.
It spanned more than five miles wide, he said.
He noted it could have stretched as far east as Burden, but the majority of the damage was south of Udall between U.S. 77 and Cowley 3.
"I don't think the city took the brunt of it," Hoffman noted.
Four barns were badly damaged, as well as a grain bin at Fleming Feed north of Winfield. A carport was torn from a home in Rock.
Despite the severity of the storm, Hoffman has learned of only one family that has been forced to move from their home.
"Only one home is unlivable," Hoffman said, identifying it as a home 1.5 miles south of Udall. "They're moving their things out today."
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