A band of storms that passed through Allen County Monday evening packed a wallop.
Hundreds remained without power through the night, and at least three homes were destroyed in the storms, which hit the area around 8 o’clock.
Iolan Mitch Phillips, 1130 Minnesota Rd., was at home with his wife, Amanda, when the storms hit.
The house shuddered, he said, shortly before a large tree fell through the front of their home.
The Phillipses heard a “huge noise” when the insulation began to fly everywhere.
The couple sought refuge for the night in their garage.
The home was insured, they said.
“”Looks like we are getting a new house,” he said.
The Phillipses had remodeled their home in 2006.
Ted Mueller’s shed at 1018 1100 St., sustained about $50,000 worth of damage, he said. High winds demolished the shed, which contained several vehicles and tractors.
“It turned the shed. The shed was pointing north toward the house and now it’s pointing west. It turned it 90 degrees,” he said.
The storm spread debris across the street and throughout a field, and sprawled round bales throughout his property. He and his wife headed for the basement after they saw a dust storm approaching.
Glenn Smith, Hays, said his daughter-in-law, Nicki Smith, his grandson, Lane Smith, and their dog, Jase, hid in a closet after they heard a loud noise. High winds lifted the roof off the house and the garage at 1260 Mississippi Rd. Smith said the storm lifted the roof completely off the garage, setting it down in the backyard.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; font: 9.5px ‘Nimrod MT’} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 10.5px; font: 9.5px ‘Nimrod MT’} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 10.5px; font: 9.5px ‘Nimrod MT’; min-height: 11.0px} span.s1 {font: 9.0px ‘Nimrod MT’}
“The car in the garage doesn’t have a scratch on it,” Glenn Smith said. Nicki and Lane recently rented the house from Scott Mueller and had only spent two nights in it.
“I guess it was not meant to be for them to stay in that house,” Glenn Smith said.
Another trailer at 1041 1300 St., was destroyed in the storm.
