(Des Moines, Iowa) – State forestry experts are encouraging Iowans to proceed with caution as they begin cleaning up the tree damage from Wednesday’s storm. Emma Hanigan, urban forestry coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, suggests homeowners hire a tree care professional if they do not have the experience, ability, and equipment to safely prune their own tree. Homeowners planning to do their own tree cleanup should wear safety equipment, including hand, foot, leg, eye, face, hearing and head protection, and avoid wearing loose-fitting clothes while using a chainsaw. “Be careful when working with trees and limbs that are snapped off, twisted and tangled together,” warns Hanigan. “The trunk or tree limbs may bind against the chainsaw.”

After cleanup is complete, homeowners wanting to have their trees inspected should contact a professional, insured arborist. The arborist can examine trees for cracks or other issues that might have been overlooked. Routine tree care of young trees makes them more resilient long term and decreases the likelihood of storm-related damage. Hanigan said younger wind-thrown trees can be saved by staking and guying, but larger trees are less likely to recover. When the time is right, homeowners who have lost trees are encouraged to replant.

The Iowa DNR has information and links to help homeowners identify and select a licensed arborist, and tips on chain saw safety, pruning and tree care and replanting online at https://www.iowadnr.gov/urbanforestry

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon says he has applied for a Disaster Proclamation from the State, and Governor Kim Reynolds is expected to issue a Proclamation for Cass and other counties, sometime today. Kennon said they’re just beginning to assess the damage that spans west/southwest of Atlantic to northeast of town.

Kennon says they had a total of nine semi tractor-trailer rollovers in the County, primarily along Interstate 80. There were no life-threatening injuries reported. He said just because the storm has passed, doesn’t mean there aren’t hazards people should be aware of.

He said power crews are out and about working on downed lines. The tornado sirens in Atlantic went off twice, Wednesday evening. He offered advice to residents in the County, following the storms…

Residents with damage or downed power lines should call the Cass County EMA at 712-254-1500.

(Radio Iowa) – The 14-hundred residents of the northwest Iowa town of Kingsley lost power as Wednesday’s storm damaged power lines, trees and buildings. Duane Walhof is Plymouth County’s Emergency Management director. “Parts of roofs torn off and those type things, mainly on the south side of Kingsley,” Walhof says. “…Titan Machinery had the roof torn off and tossed across the road.”

Walhof says there were reports the roofs of hog barns in rural areas around Kingsley were damaged as well. Walhof says since the storm hit at about 5 p.m., it was difficult to assess damage in the dark. “The National Weather Service will be out to try to identify whether it was straight line winds or a tornado,” Walhof says. “We’ll see what the day brings in how quickly we can get Kingsley back up and restored and back on it again.”

The Plymouth County Sheriff restricted movement within the Kingsley City Limits overnight to residents of the community, to limit the number of sightseers driving through the damage. Kingsley-Pierson School was cancelled for today (Thursday).

The broadcast News at 8:05-a.m., with Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS

• 2 tablespoons refrigerated garlic paste (from tube)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 2 cups frozen shrimp, thawed, patted dry with paper towels
• 3 tablespoons corn oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon brined capers, drained and minced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup bottled clam juice
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (about 7 tomatoes), quartered
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) cold butter, quartered
• Baguette, for serving

Stir together the garlic paste, mustard, garlic salt and lemon pepper in a medium bowl.  Add the shrimp, stirring to coat, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over high.  Place the shrimp in a single layer in the hot skillet; cook for 1 minute on one side.  Return the shrimp to the bowl with the marinade.  Add the lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of the parsley; stir and set aside.

Put the onion, capers, and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet.  Cook over medium-high until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine, clam juice and cream, and boil until reduced by half, about 5 minutes, adding the tomatoes during the last 3 minutes of cooking.  (You can always add water if the mixture seems too thick.)

Remove from the heat.  Add the shrimp mixture and stir.  Whisk in the butter until melted.  Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley.  Serve with torn pieces of baguette or grilled bread.

The Creston Police Department says a merchant in the 400 block of S. Sumner Avenue reported on Dec. 10th, that a shoplifting incident had taken place. At around 7:10-p.m., a man was seen leaving the building with a basket filled with various tool,s including DeWalt and Milwaukee. The loss was estimated at $50.

The latest area news (broadcast at 7:07-a.m.), w/Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(This information is current as of 6:30-a.m.) Here is a compiled report of power outages/customers affected in the area:

Cass County: 96 customers (90 with Guthrie County REC; 5 MidAmerican Energy; 1 Nishnabotna Valley REC)

Adair County: 18 customers (11 Guthrie County REC; 7 with Farmers Elec. Coop)

Adams County: 16 customers of Southwest REC

Audubon County: 523 customers (508 w/Guthrie Co. REC; 12 MidAm. Energy;3 Nishnabotna Valley REC)

Guthrie County: 656 customers (474 Alliant Energy; 175 Guthrie Co. REC;7 Midland Power Coop)

Shelby County: 228 customers (224 MidAm Energy; 4 Nishnabotna REC)

Pott. County: 1,297 customers (1,290 MidAm Energy; Scattered Harrison County & Nish REC’s)

Montgomery County:123 MidAm. Energy customers

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Storm Damage Assessment Teams will fan out across the state today, to get a better idea of the damage caused by what many have called a “Decemderecho.”  Winds gusting at 80-miles per hour or more caused widespread damage to property, and claimed at least one life. Here in Cass County, at least two video/spotter confirmed tornadoes touched down, one happened about a mile north/northwest of Atlantic. The other crossed Interstate 80 from Cass into Audubon Counties. Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon reports there appeared to have been to be a path of damage spanning from just southwest of Atlantic to the northeast of town, affecting homes, silos, and outbuildings. Another tornado was confirmed three miles south/southwest of Brayton at around 5-p.m., Wednesday. A storm spotter reported flipped semi’s and power flashes. (See the complete [initial] report of damage on the Weather page at kjan.com)

Authorities closed Olive Street north of Atlantic from Chicago Road to Dallas Road last night, due to power lines across the road. Cass County Communications confirmed the road was still closed as of 5:30-a.m. today, but it was expected to re-open sometime this morning. The Sheriff’s Office advised motorists to use caution this morning, as there is a considerable amount of debris, power lines and poles down in some roadways. Numerous power outages were reported across the listening area, including Atlantic. One outage occurred last last night, when transformers blew between Olive Street and Wal-Mart. The power was restored a few hours later.

The line of fast-moving thunderstorms developed Wednesday afternoon in north central Kansas, and started moving to the northeast at 70 to 80 mph. We’ll get a better idea of the damage after daylight.

(Radio Iowa) – The Transportation Commission has approved rules to allow vehicles not owned and operated by the state to use flashing white warning lights in work zones. The D-O-T’s Dave Lorenzen, says state law governs the color of lights used. “The reason is they want to make sure that the public is given kind of a consistent pattern of what this color of light means with this type of vehicle. We all know when there is a blue and a red light flashing on a light bar that it is either a fire, E-M-S, or law enforcement vehicle,” Lorenzen says.

He says the law was changed to allow the D-O-T vehicles to use the flashing white lights and the rule change expands that to non-D-O-T vehicles. He says the white will be used by the D-O-T on the back of special trailers towed in work zones to warn drivers they are getting into a dangerous situation. They won’t be on all the time. “We don’t want to create a lackadaisical view where everything looks the same all the time. We need to be able to draw the motorist’s attention to the fact that these are flashing for a reason — you need to slow down, you are getting in the wrong lane or whatever,” he says.

Lorenzen says the lights will give contractors another tool to use to try and keep them safe. “We’re constantly looking at ways we can make our vehicles more identifiable, people can react in a reasonable manner and distance so we don’t have those incidents,” Lorenzen says. He says it’s unfortunate they have to keep spending money on safety features when drivers could easily do it.”The best solution for us would be is if folks would put their phones down and really pay close attention when they are approaching and driving those work zones — because it is not a normal flow of traffic,” according to Lorenzen. “That traffic queue and speeds can change very quickly, and quite frankly those secondary crashes sometimes are more severe than the intial crash.”

Lorenzen says the contractors will be able to decide how they can use the lights to make their work zones safer.