Grimes County suffers STORM DAMAGE

Grimes County suffered damage from a storm that swept through the area abruptly Friday, Jan. 10, into early Saturday morning, Jan. 11, boasting heavy wind that left many residents without electricity.

Grimes County Emergency Management Coordinator David Lily stated that all things considered the county came through well. Lilly said Navasota took a bit of a hit.

“The city received high winds and rain which caused a considerable amount of damage to trees and power-lines,” stated Navasota City Manager Brad Stafford. “Several signs and some structures were damaged by wind, falling trees and falling powerlines.” Stafford stated a substantial amount of damage occurred at Oakland Cemetery.

Navasota fire crews responded to numerous calls including a resident that was trapped in their home. “We arrived on scene to find a primary transmission power pole that broke at midpoint and onto the residents home crushing part of her roof and the front of her home,” said Navasota Fire Chief Jason Katkoski. “Firefighters entered through the back of the home and removed the resident.” Katkoski said the resident didn’t suffer any injuries.

The Red Cross opened a temporary shelter Saturday, Jan. 11, and closed it Sunday afternoon. Katkoski stated no residents needed to utilize the shelter.

Katkoski stated approximately 20 homes were affected by the storms and the fire department located eight transmission poles that were broken and had power lines on the ground. Fire crews responded to a tree and transformer fire on Sycamore Street. Katkoski stated a downed powerline on Texas State Highway 6 Spur 515 caused traffic to be diverted for six hours.

Lilly said there were widespread power outages in Iola, Bedias, Richards and Anderson but most of the power was restored by 2 p.m. Saturday. Bedias had their power completely restored by Sunday afternoon.

“We had a lot of downed trees on state and county roads, but they were removed fairly quick thanks to the hard work of our fire departments and the Grimes County Road and Bridge Crew,” said Lilly.

Stafford stated the cleanup effort is continuing in Navasota and crews began collecting brush that is placed curbside Monday, Jan. 13, and will continue to collect brush as long as it is needed.