Power Outage in Hiawatha, KS

A power pole was downed on the Kansas side of 340th street which appeared to be related to a tornado that began just south of the state line and then crossed into Nebraska around 718 pm on May 12th.

Brown County DOT reported ice build up on elevated surfaces of more than one quarter inch to around .40 in Hiawatha. A few sporadic power outages were also noted via social media.

Power was out due to the winds.

Wind caused power poles to come down.

Several power poles and one tree reported blown down in the city of Hiawatha.

A tree and some powerlines were reported down in Hiawatha.

Trained spotters reported 70 to 80 mph winds across Brown County. Power lines were down in Everest and Robinson. Trees were snapped throughout the county, and in Robinson a grain elevator was heavily damaged.

Brown County: Three quarters of an inch to one and one half inches of ice accumulated on surfaces across the county. Thunder was also heard during the periods of heaviest freezing rain on the 11th. Tree limbs and power poles were down across Fairview, due to the accumulation of ice. Whole trees were uprooted in and around Hiawatha. Power poles were snapped across the region as well. Many streets in Hiawatha were littered with tree limbs where an estimated ����� of ice accumulated on just about everything in the city. Homes and vehicles alike suffered tremendous damage when large branches fell on top of them. Much of the county was left without power, beginning about 2:30am CST the 11th. Several fires were reported in Hiawatha, at least one of which was caused by a tree limb that fell onto the electrical box of a house. In Horton, power lines were down, as were entire trees and many of their limbs. Power was cut off in Horton around 11:30pm the 10th, and phone, cable, and Internet were also knocked out. Shelters were set up in Hiawatha, Morrill, Everest, and Horton. The Brown-Atchison Electric Coop was 100% without power���no substations had any power whatsoever. The company serves 3180 customers in northeast Kansas. Crews took nearly two weeks to restore power to some locations. An emergency water conservation message was put out due to the fact that electric water pumps across the county were able to be run without power. Several accidents were reported on roads across the county���none of which were serious. US-159 was closed along a 5 mile stretch east of Muscotah due to downed power lines. A portion of K-7 was also closed due to downed power lines and tree limbs. Cell phone communication was spotty for up to a week after the event. Ice was reported to be two to three inches thick along and east of Baker Road in Brown County.

An official from a local energy company said more than 3,500 customers were left without power after thunderstorms rolled across Hiawatha. Lightning hitting a power line was stated to be the cause of the outage.

Strong winds downed tree limbs and damaged power lines.

Thunderstorms developed over north central and northeast Kansas the evening of the 17th and continued well into the night. Many became severe and produced numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds. In addition a gust front moved away from the thunderstorms and produced high winds up to 70 mph. The gust front developed near St. Marys and spread rapidly northeast to the Hiawatha, Sabetha, and Seneca areas. These winds downed power lines, uprooted trees, and damaged several buildings with damage totals around 10 thousand dollars.