Storms down trees, knock out power across county

A tree, knocked over by the strong winds in Thursday’s storm, landed on a car parked in the driveway of a home on Duncan Creek Road in Russellville. Trees were uprooted across the county during the last few rounds of storms.

Several storm systems have moved across the county since Thursday causing downed trees, widespread power outages and other minor damages.

Franklin County Emergency Management Agency director Roy Gober said there were reports of small and large trees that were downed across the county as well as reports of widespread power outages in the city of Russellville and throughout the county.

“These have been some rough storms with damaging, straight line winds, lots of rain and significant amounts of lightning,” Gober said.

“Monday’s storms had lightning that was popping across the county, hitting transformers and trees. Storms like this can be dangerous and we should take them seriously. No one should be outside when these kinds of storms are going on.”

He said he had also received a few reports of structural damage but nothing that was reported was major.

Gober said the damage was mostly caused by the storm systems that moved through on Thursday afternoon, Saturday evening and Monday evening.

Gober said residents should be watchful of these severe weather situations, especially this time of year.

“Many people think of March through May as the time for bad weather like this, but this is still a time when the conditions are right to see a lot of thunderstorms, usually in the afternoon, and sometimes these storms can become severe,” Gober said.

“Residents need to understand that severe weather can happen at any time, not just a particular time of year.

“Residents should have a good, reliable source for receiving weather information so they can be adequately prepared if severe weather does come our way.”