BEATRICE – Sunday was a day of cleanup and efforts to restore power to a southern Gage County community, hit hard by severe weather Saturday night.
What appeared to be a tornado caused extensive damage to trees, homes and utility lines in Wymore.


"Probably about five-thirty, maybe even six o'clock, my daughter was taking a nap on the couch and I tried to wait as long as I could to not wake her up...and then it started getting really windy. I just grabbed her and ran downstairs and we started watching it on our cameras...and I could tell right when it went through."
Kaylee Richards is one of several property owners who had damage in the storm. Her home sustained roof damage and the power was still out on Sunday. But her family was not hurt.  "It's the only thing that really matters. We still have a house...it could be worse."

Cutting apart downed tree in Wymore
Cutting apart downed tree in Wymore  

The storm was part of a severe thunderstorm system that earlier had dropped three-to-five-inch diameter hail on a part of east Beatrice.
Utility crews from around the region spent Sunday repairing electrical equipment and trying to restore power. In and around the community, Norris Public Power District Crews were joined by utility crews from Wymore, Beatrice, Fairbury and Crete in working to get the power back on.


Tree service crews and residents were using chain saws to cut away downed trees and branches.  Kevin Mittan, a lifelong resident of the area who lives in Blue Springs….said his son took cover in his Wymore home.


"But, he said he was in the basement and he could hear that the floor joists of the house were popping. Nothing damaged with the house, just some uprooted trees and you can see all of the telephone poles bent and twisted....it's quite an ordeal."

Damaged neighborhood in Wymore
Damaged neighborhood in Wymore  

There was an unconfirmed report of some children trapped in the basement of a home who were rescued safely. Mittan says he expects it will take a couple of weeks to complete cleanup in the city.  There was a second strong storm that came through Wymore Sunday, hampering efforts to complete restoration of electricity.


In addition to the Saturday night tornado, there was a report of a rain-wrapped tornado in Marshall County, Kansas near U.S. Highway 77, about four miles southwest of Oketo.  A suspected tornado at Marysville, Kansas included a report of four industrial buildings collapsing and the closure of U.S. Highway 36, because of debris covering the road.