Published: May 14, 2009 10:51 am      

Barns damaged, destroyed from apparent straight line winds

MENTONE — Storms that rocked the area early Thursday morning left damage in central Kosciusko County.

According to Kosciusko County Sgt. Chad Hill, trees and limbs were down along Ind. 19, south of Etna Green and north of Mentone; barn structures were damaged in the area of C.R. 950 West, between C.R. 100 South and C.R. 200 South; and another structure was damange along C.R. 900 West, between C.R. 100 South and C.R. 200 South. Trees were blown over in the area of C.R. 800 West, between C.R. 100 and C.R. 200 South.

As of Thursday morning, C.R. 950 West was closed to traffic to allow Kosciusko County REMC to repair damaged or downed power lines and poles.

Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock told police that two barn structures were heavily damaged and one was destroyed. According to Hill, Rock said that it appears the damage was from strong straight line winds that came through with the cold front early Thursday morning.

Emergency crews are still assessing damage. There were no reported injuries, police reported.

Electrical outages were reported for both Northern Indiana Public Service Co. and Kosciusko County REMC. No exact numbers are currently known.