A severe thunderstorm which apparently spawned a tornado blew through Alexandria Wednesday evening causing some structure damage to a few homes and outbuildings.
Two buildings on the DeKalb County Fairgrounds known as Jennings Produce and Jennings Barber Shop were completely destroyed. Heavy damage was also inflicted on the Alexandria City Park and the Alexandria Lions Club Softball Field.
The Mahome community between Alexandria and Watertown was also hit hard with damage to homes and barns and numerous uprooted or blown down trees.
Assistant Fire Chief for the City of Alexandria, Caleb Roth also reported damage at homes on East Main Street just off the town square in Alexandria. “We were dispatched out to a power line down in the street on East Main Street around 6:30 p.m. We got there with one engine and a squad truck with several personnel. We found power lines down. It appeared to be maybe straight line winds or possibly a small tornado touched down. Approximately five to seven houses had some damage. Lots of roof metal pulled off, siding, and furniture all over the place. We found ten to fifteen trees down in the area and power lines in the road. We did several patrols around the town and that’s about the most extensive damage we came up with. No one was hurt. We checked all the houses in this area and everybody was safe.”
Tony Griffith, who resides at 119 East Main Street in Alexandria, said he was at a gas station near his home when he learned that DeKalb County was under a tornado warning and that the storm was approaching Alexandria. Griffith said he got in his pickup truck and headed for home. He was about 200 yards from his house when he saw the debris from the storm blowing across the street. “I was coming up the road from the gas station when I saw stuff twisting and blowing across the road on East Main Street. It was blowing my pickup truck too. You could feel the wind. When I got home I ran into the basement and made sure everybody was okay.”
Griffith said the storm caused some minor damage to his home and destroyed a shed. Several of his neighbors also experienced damage to their homes although apparently no one was left homeless.