On Sunday, July 3, stormy weather hit the area and delayed the Water Festival’s schedule slightly, but not without doing some serious damage to crops in the northern part of Sanborn County. Pictures of piles of hail in the ditches and people’s yards were posted on social media, and if a person didn’t read what was said about the picture, they would think it was snow that had fallen. No reports of structural damage were reported to the news office, but there were reports of total crop loss in many fields in the area. 

A stronger and more potent storm came through most of the state on Tuesday, July 5, that took out power for several hours and made for a couple days of cleanup all over every town in the county. It was indicated as another “derecho” similar to the one that hit the area a few weeks ago. It consisted of violent winds up to 98 miles per hour and torrential rains that made rivers in the streets. Rain gauges measured over three inches of rain in Woonsocket and most of the surrounding area. The aftermath was many trees uprooted and others split apart. Yards and streets were filled with branches, trees and debris from neighbors’ yards. 

At press time, most of the mess that the Tuesday storm had left was cleaned up with the help of city and state crews and many volunteers who came out to help their neighbors and friends. Again, there were no reports of major structural damage, but there was enough yard, tree and plant damage to last everyone for the rest of this summer.

…See pictures in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!