Staff Report
Mother Nature made a late summer call on the Tri-State last week as damaging summer storms swept through the area. High winds and heavy rains wreaked havoc on Adams and the surrounding counties, with numerous reports of significant damage and photos of that damage posted to social media. (The People’s Defender thanks all of the readers who submitted their storm photos, some of which accompany this story.)
The worst of the storms hit the area on Tuesday, August 11, leaving thousands of homes and businesses without power for sometimes 3-4 days. Through a flurry of severe thunderstorm watches and warnings and tornado watches and warnings, meteorologists described the event as a “derecho”, described as a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm linked to a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms. It produces destructive winds over 58 mph extending past 240 miles, causing tornado-like damage along a straight path.
As expected, the Adams County Communications Center was swamped with calls on August 11 and beyond, reporting 141 calls to 9-11 and 131 administrative calls before the storms took their lines down. Luckily, there were no reports of injuries from these storms, with the many downed trees and power lines scattered all across the county. Many kudos to the line workers and others who worked tirelessly in difficult conditions to restore power to the affected customers.
For those residents of the county who may have suffered property damage from last week’s storm, you may be eligible for a property tax reduction through the Adams County Auditor’s Office. You can request a Destroyed Property Application (DTE26) by phone at (937) 544-2364 or online at adamscountyauditor.org.