Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Several trucks from Z & S Construction of Kimball hauled debris from Carol Novotny's farm south of Bushnell on Monday, Aug. 1 to the Kimball Landfill. The Novotny family was one of several whose property and way of life was damaged by recent storms.
Old growth trees were destroyed at Colby Lukassen's farm. Colby and Vaughn Lukassen work to clear the driveway of downed trees.
Last week's storms may have missed the city of Kimball but it was still devestating to many other parts of the county. Fields were leveled, full grown trees snapped in half, buildings damaged and vehicles totaled.
On the evening of July 27, the first of two quick but hard hitting storms struck the southwestern part of Kimball county. These areas included Bushnell, Oliver Lake and thousands of acres of farmland.
Many in the area had already finished wheat harvest. David and Shelly Norberg were lucky that they had finished wheat harvest just two days previous.
Unconfirmed reports include that the Hagstrom farm was not so lucky and lost their entire wheat harvest and that Dave Miller, who lives just north of Link 53, lost the roof to his garage in the high winds.
Corn in the area was in various stages of tassel but that won't matter much because the majority of the corn was left to nothing but short stubby stalks by the golf ball sized hail. David and Shelly Norberg lost around 250 acres of irrigated corn and 100 acres of dry land in the first of the two storms that hit around 6:15 p.m.
After the first storm the David and Shelly Norberg drove around the area and reported that it looked like a good five to seven mile radius south and west of their farm had been completely destroyed. Shelly said, "It seemed like most all the spring crops in the area like millet, oats and just grass for cattle was pretty much gone."
According to Terri Lukassen the fields of irrigated corn south of the Interstate from Bushnell, "looked like mowed grass but it was a corn field a few minutes before."
Dave and Shelly suspected that the coming storm might produce hail and took preventative measures to move their combines and sprayers into buildings for protection. They still lost many of their four-paned windows on the west and south of their house as well as the back window to a pickup and various other damage.
Not everyone was as lucky as they were.
Although the storm didn't drop rain uniformly across the area, the furthest southern and western areas of the county reported flooding across roads and washing out fields.
Many in the area lost more than just land to the storm. According to Sheriff Gillway, there were numerous buildings in the county that were damaged and even completely destroyed.
Several buildings were lost at the Richard and Nancy Novotny farm, trees were broken in half, siding to their home left in shreds and damage to their farming equipment caused not only by the storm but from the force of the wind blowing buildings into their combines.
Carol Novotny, Richard's mother, reported not just hail but that a possible tornado struck their farm.
Novotny estimates the damage at tens of thousands of dollars with two buildings flattened, machinery damaged, a destroyed windbreak and damage possible to sprinkler systems.
Sheriff Gillway reported that the National Weather Service had been informed by Brandon Loy, Kimball's Reserve Deputy Emergency Manager, that although there were was mostly straight pattern winds in the county, there was an area that showed the typical "circular, wagon wheel spoked pattern" of a possible microburst or twister.
Colby Lukassen who, lives just off link 53 between I-80 and Bushnell suspected a tornado on his property as well when he found three large trees next to his drive way had just been snapped in half.
There was also thousands of dollars of damage to personal property at Oliver Lake. Although the hail was significant there as well, the high winds caused just as much damage, flipping a Wyoming owned fifth-wheel onto it's side, breaking out windows and destroying the siding. Roger Wynne's trailer lost a few windows and the air-conditioning was hit so hard that it was hardly attached and is completely totaled.
Sheriff and Mrs. Gillway's motorhome survived but the awning was "ripped to shreds, completely destroyed." According to the sheriff the value of the awning alone is $4,000.
When asked about the future, Shelly Norberg said, "Farmers got to be resilient. You got to dust yourself off and jump right back up again."
