Early morning storm downs trees, damages some buildings

More than 1,000 Ames Electric Services customers were without power for 2 hours.

By Susan Gwiasda
City of Ames

(May 2, 2012 - 10:15 a.m.) Severe weather and strong winds damaged property and created electric outages around Ames early Wednesday morning with the most severe damage in the northern part of the city. Downed trees, street lights, and damage to homes and garages were reported to Ames police beginning at 1:54 a.m. today.

As City crews clear tree limbs in the public right of way, the City has opened a drop-off site for tree limbs from private property at the Parks and Recreation Maintenance Facility at 700 East 13^th Street. The site will be marked with a sign and open daylight hours through Sunday. There will not be a curbside pickup for tree limbs. For residents who will have difficulty accessing the drop-off site and meet certain criteria, volunteer help may be available. Contact the City Manager’s Office for more information at (515) 239-5101.

Damage to an electric transmission line at the corner of Bloomington and Grand Avenue tripped a breaker creating an outage affecting more than 1,000 Ames Electric Services customers. The outage occurred around 2 a.m., and power was restored by 4 a.m. Ames Electric Services crews continue to work on isolated outages reported at single residences around the community. Crews continue to repair two street lights in north Ames that were damaged by winds. Additionally, the Bloomington and Grand Avenue traffic light was severely damaged and replaced by stop signs. A temporary traffic light will be installed by noon on Thursday.

Ames Electric Services customers should always call the power outage automated system at (515) 239-5240 when they experience an outage. Customers who rely on cell phones should call Customer Service at (515) 239-5120 during regular business hours to associate their cell phone number to their billing address.