Emergency Management Details Response to June Windstorm

Emergency Management Director Michelle Weis provided commissioners with a quarterly update detailing the county's response to a June 8 windstorm with 100 mph winds and an April 27 hailstorm.

Weis said the hailstorm affected five counties and totaled about $7.3 million in damages statewide, with the airport among the biggest impacts locally. She said a federal disaster declaration was approved, and eight entities in Saline County are included in the assessment.

Following the June windstorm, which left most residents without power for about 72 hours, the county opened overnight shelters at Kansas Wesleyan and University United Methodist Church, and a shelter for chainsaw crews at Grand Avenue. Weis said more than 1,000 showers were provided to residents and about 100 families used laundry services through a partnership with the Grand Alliance. She said roughly nine chainsaw crews assisted, and GIS staff created work orders for more than 650 jobs, with about 55 still remaining.

Weis also reported the county completed and submitted three plans — its emergency operations plan, mass casualty plan, and recovery plan — while a reunification plan was pushed to later in the year.