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EMA reports wide storm damage, investigates siren delay; county to accept resident vegetation debris temporarily
Summary
Grant County EMA reported damage across roughly 220 square miles after a recent storm, said about 2,000 customers lost power at peak and that a delay in siren activation is under investigation; the commissioners approved allowing residents to bring vegetative storm debris to the highway yard through mid‑July (pending final wording).
Grant County Emergency Management reported June 1 that crews are conducting initial storm‑damage assessments across an estimated 220 square miles of the county following Thursday evening's storms, and that at the outage peak approximately 2,000 customers were without power.
EMA representative Mr. Jackson told commissioners that the National Weather Service had observed rotation in several locations but that rotation "doesn't always equal tornado," and that no on‑the‑ground tornado survey evidence had yet been confirmed. He also said county staff are investigating a delay in activating the county sirens during the event: "There was a delay in and activating the sirens on Thursday evening ... we're digging into that already and we'll get to the root cause of that." The EMA report noted at least 18 county road closures at one point and a multi‑agency cleanup effort including the highway department, sheriff's office and volunteer fire departments.
As part of recovery, Mr. Jackson asked the commissioners to permit residents to bring vegetative storm debris (trees, vegetation only — not structural debris) to the Grant County Highway Department for no fee. Commissioners discussed extending the free‑drop deadline from June 30 to mid‑July to allow more time for property cleanup. Mr. White of the highway department said county crews have been cutting and clearing large trees and that the highway department alone cleared nearly 60 miles in recent chip‑seal and cleanup work.
The board approved the debris arrangement in the meeting discussion and directed staff to finalize terms; commissioners emphasized the drop period is intended for residential vegetation only and not for commercial haulers.
