Storms

MidAmerican Energy calls for safety, continues storm restoration (01/26/10)
MidAmerican Energy reminds customers to take additional safety precautions as work continues to restore service to thousands of customers impacted by this week's ice storm. Today (Tuesday) MidAmerican Energy reported only one outage in Plymouth County...

Winter predictions: Plenty of snow, ice ahead (01/25/10)
"Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice..." Le Mars readers of Robert Frost's famous poem might lean toward the latter with the latest bout of freezing rain, ice and blowing snow glazing the region. The predictions for February and March weather seem to pile on more evidence...

County declares Christmas blizzard a state of emergency (01/20/10)
The snowstorm that pummeled Plymouth County between Dec. 22 and 27, 2009 is officially a disaster. The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved a disaster declaration Tuesday, a formal step toward securing state and federal dollars to help pay for the blizzard cleanup...

Ice closes schools, slicks roadways (01/20/10)
An ice storm began pelting Le Mars at about midnight continued through the day today (Wednesday) making for cancelled school and icy roadways. An ice storm warning issued by the National Weather Service remains in effect until 6 a.m. Thursday for most of the western half of the state, all of central Iowa and portions of east central and southeast Iowa...

Plymouth County declares snow emergency (01/13/10)
Based on the amount of snowfall during the 2009 Christmas blizzard, a preliminary estimate for cleanup costs and damages is several hundred thousand dollars for Plymouth County. To receive state money to help pay for those damages, Plymouth County is in the process of declaring a snow emergency with the State of Iowa...

Blizzard brings snow creature to Le Mars (01/11/10)
Unlike the mythical abominal snowman, snow creatures are real. And one has come to Le Mars. It was sighted after Ron and Stacey Mahlke decided to get out of the house to play with their children - Sydney and Rio - in the snow. But, two and one half hours later, Sydney and Rio watched as a 20-foot green lizard emerged from the depths of the snow bank...

Winter rebound: Second blizzard of year whips into NW Iowa (01/07/10)
Enough already. Schools were closed and drifts got higher when the sequel to the Christmas storm two weeks ago roared into town Wednesday. This week's snowfall raises the winter total to 37.4 inches. That's beyond Le Mars' average annual snowfall -- and that's with half of the snowfall season yet to come...

Rewind 2009: The good, the bad and the blizzard (12/30/09)
Editor's note: This is the first of two stories recapping 2009's top stories in the Daily Sentinel. Mother Nature put a wet (or white) blanket on Plymouth County's Christmastime plans, nailing northwest Iowa with more than a foot of snow and winds that lowered visibility and drifted roads shut. ...

White Christmas: Le Mars gets wrapped under 13-17 inches of snow (12/28/09)
Pounded with more than a foot of snow and whipping winds, Le Mars hunkered down for a very merry blizzard this Christmas. "The snow just kept coming and coming," said Fire Chief Wayne Schipper, who also serves as the city's chief of emergency operations. "But everything went smooth here."...

Storm brewing: Meteorologist discourages Christmas travel (12/22/09)
Travelers planning to leave Plymouth County this Christmas may likely be stuck. A major winter storm is expected to blow into northwest Iowa and surrounding areas Wednesday and continue through Christmas Eve (Thursday) and into Christmas Day (Friday)...

White winter roars into town (12/09/09)
The first blizzard of the winter blew into northwest Iowa Tuesday, blanketing the region with about 8 inches of snow and sweeping it into drifts with wind gusts reaching 35 mph. For Le Mars students Cody Hatfield and Kristian Lowery, cancelled school Tuesday meant an open afternoon to shovel -- and play in -- the snow...

Courthouse annex building ready for architect's cost estimate (11/12/09)
The Plymouth County Supervisors are ready to send a floor plan for a proposed courthouse annex building to architects to receive cost estimates on the design. The supervisors' consensus Tuesday came after further review of the changes they have made to the layout of the proposed annex building the past few weeks...

Supervisors look at storm shelter option (09/23/09)
Could the basement of the proposed Plymouth County Courthouse annex building be made into a storm shelter? Gary Junge, Plymouth County emergency management coordinator, presented that possibility to the conty board of supervisors Tuesday. Junge explained federal and state grant money is available to help pay about 85 percent of the cost to to transform buildings into storm shelters...

Heavy rain, winds cause chaos in northwest Iowa (07/08/09)
Heavy rain and gusting winds brought down tree branches and limbs Tuesday night in Le Mars and across northwest Iowa. As Ryan Richardson, 1005 Central Ave., cut up a large tree that had fallen on his pickup in his driveway Wednesday morning, he said lighting had struck the tree causing it to split during Tuesday night's storm...

Don't mess with Mother Nature: Heed warnings (04/10/09)
We're barely out of blizzard season and here comes tornado weather. This week is National Severe Weather Awareness Week, and a local disaster management planner wants to get word out about the importance of heeding severe weather warnings. "When the National Weather Service puts out a severe weather or tornado warning, they try to give people as much time as possible so they can take shelter," Gary Junge, Plymouth County disaster services director said. ...

Weekend blizzard expected to bury northwest Iowa (04/03/09)
Put away spring jackets and dig out your parkas this weekend as almost a foot of snow is expected to fall across northwest Iowa. "We do have a winter storm watch for Saturday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, but that will probably change to a warning later on today," said Todd Heitkamp, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Sioux Falls office...

Red Cross supplies cots, goods to help prepare local shelters (03/16/09)
In case of a flood, an ice storm, a heat wave, tornado or pandemic, victims who are forced from their Plymouth County homes will have a place to sleep. Friday, the Siouxland Area Chapter of the Red Cross delivered 80 cots, pillows, blankets and a supply of adult and youth comfort kits to the Le Mars Disaster Services building...

How to survive being snowbound on the roadway (12/30/08)
Help save a life -- your own. Pack an emergency car kit before setting out on treacherous snow covered roads. "Do your planning. If you were delayed or had trouble, think of what you might need," said Gary Junge, Plymouth County emergency management coordinator...

Don't get stuck in the cold: Plan for winter power outage (12/29/08)
By Charles Schwab Safety Specialist, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Iowa State University Extension Winter power outages are always challenging but occasionally they can be dangerous if not handled correctly. The key to managing any emergency such as a power outage is to have a specific disaster plan to handle decisions that must be made in the moment of the crisis...

Now that's what we call winter (12/19/08)
Shoveling it. Blowing it. Plowing through it. Getting stuck in it. About 8 inches of the heavy, wet snow greeted Le Mars area residents Friday morning. But a temperature at 8 a.m. of 14 above zero with a windchill of 2 above made for a relatively warm start as residents began burrowing their way out...

Speakers urge local leaders to consider possible threats (10/01/08)
Maybe it will be an ice storm. Maybe a pandemic flu. Or maybe a terrorist strike with chemical weapons. Disaster is always on the horizon -- at least that was the message at a "Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail" videoconference that brought together local leaders from Le Mars and in six other states...

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