(Massena) Last Friday night, a severe thunderstorm lingered over the southeastern portion of Cass County, dropping 8.5 inches of rain in several locations south of Massena, along with large hail, high winds, flooding, and a possible tornado, although that has not been confirmed.
Drew Williams lives south of Massena at 70422 750th Street and says the stormy weather hit around 10:00 p.m. and intensified around 11:30 p.m.
Williams became concerned when he spotted several storm spotters parked in his driveway. Williams estimated wind speeds of 65 to 70 miles per hour.
The high winds and what appears to be some tornadic activity caused damage to outbuildings and to some exterior areas of some farm homes. Williams mentioned his neighbor lost a barn.
Williams has seen many intense storms during his time as a firefighter, and he admits that he and his family went to the basement.
On Saturday morning, Cass County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Kennon toured the southwest region of the County. Kennon tells KSOM/KS95 News there is a concentrated area of damage starting at Wichita Road south of Cumberland, and extends east to Southwest Iowa Egg at 75868 Victoria Road. Kennon says the storm continued to develop over the same area, along with a couple of separate tornado warnings issued by the National Weather Service. Kennon is submitting photos to the National Weather Service in hopes that they will send a storm team to the area to assess the damage. Kennon is confident there was some level of tornadic activity in this area.
