Northeast side of city bears brunt of high winds, ferocious rain
By HOLLY GASKILL
and DAVE SCHULTZ
A sudden thunderstorm early Thursday caused damage throughout Wells County.
The most significant damage was centered in the northeast portion of Bluffton where numerous trees and limbs were down, and leaves littered the roadways. Several power lines had fallen across Ind. 124 and a portion of the county lost power.
Jon Oman, Bluffton’s operations manager, said power was out at the Bluffton Woods mobile home park and was still out after four hours Thursday night as crews worked to restore it. “We have a hard to access broken pole to secure before we restore power,” Oman said after 10 p.m. Thursday. He added that 15 homes on East Dustman Road were also without power.
Laurie Baumgartner, Bluffton Parks Department sports coordinator, was supposed to be leading the annual Chicks Run at 7 p.m. The race was postponed after rain and hail tore through their tents and tree limbs blocked the race’s path.
Instead, Baumgartner joined Ethan Reynolds and other volunteers in clearing tree limbs and clogged storm drains.
On Ind. 124, Carol Kohrman assessed damage to her home, where five large trees were completely pulled from her yard. At least two other trees had fallen in her neighbor’s yards.
“I’ve lived all over the country, and this is probably the worst storm I’ve been in,” Kohrman said.
Kohrman said her husband, Jeff, had left for Arizona that morning. When the storm grew stronger, she took shelter with her two dogs in the bathtub. The thunder and wind were so loud Kohrman thought the walls of the home were coming down.
When the storm receded, Kohrman exited her front door to find the largest tree in the yard completely pulled out of the ground. It had just slightly missed hitting her house.
As she assessed the immediately visible damage, she found another heartbreaking sight — a robin’s nest settled in her driveway. The only remaining egg was cracked.
Even so, Kohrman is not dismayed.
“All things considered, it could’ve been much worse,” Kohrman said. “It’s just stuff. And we’ll do as anyone does — rebuild, move forward.”
holly@news-banner.com
