Editor’s note: The National Weather Service has determined the event north of Warsaw was the result of a microburst.
By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW – A small but intense storm north of Warsaw destroyed a mobile home in Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park and caused sporadic tree damage across the area.
The storm struck at about 3:50 p.m. with strong winds, rain, and dime-size hail pounding the area around Whispering Pines along Levi Lee Road.
Possibly the worst damage was on the east end of the mobile home park where a home was crushed in half by a large tree.
A young boy, translating for his mother said the Hispanic family of four was not home at the time of the storm.
Tree damage was common in the area.
Other damage was reported near Barbee and Chapman Lakes.
Power outages were also reported.
SR 13 was closed for a while because of a downed power line.
Kris Terrell a resident of Whispering Pines, said she had just arrived home from work and was in a back room drying off from the heavy downpour when she heard a loud sound.
“I thought, ‘oh, oh, that’s not normal,’ ” Terrell said.
“It sounded like really bad hail and then it went whoosh,” Terrell said. “It was fast. I think it was a low-grade tornado.”
Some trees appeared to be clipped off at the mid-point near her home. She described the damage as “a haircut to the trees.”
Possibly the strangest storm damage image (see below) came from Phil Kuhn of a trampoline that was picked up by strong winds and left hanging across power lines near Barrington Hills north of the airport.
