Sedgwick, Wichita see damage from heavy winds

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – People are recovering after powerful thunderstorms with strong winds hit Saturday evening.

Winds over the weekend knocked over trees and pushed down powerlines, damaging properties and causing outages.

In Wichita, one homeowner is still reeling after winds knocked a tree into her property.

Christella Graves’ home in the Riverside neighborhood of Wichita was hit hard by heavy wind over the weekend.

The wind knocked down a neighbor’s tree right into her garage, and the cars parked outside it.

“All the lines were down, and there was water everywhere, of course, and the trees were just everywhere,” Graves said.

It totaled one of the cars which Graves has had for 10 years.

“I said, ‘Boy, that car is gonna weather 30, 40 years,’ but it didn’t weather the tree,” Graves said.

Photos show aftermath of Saturday’s storm in Wichita

In the City of Sedgwick, volunteers spent the early afternoon helping clean up tree damage at a local cemetery.

“Mainly tree damage, limbs, we’ve had one large tree uprooted,” said Sedgwick Mayor Bryan Chapman.

This storm hit just a few days after another.

“This last couple of storms going through has caused more damage than probably we’ve had in the past 10 years in wind damage for trees,” Chapman said.

Small-town camaraderie, Mayor Bryan Chapman said, is inspiring neighbors to help with cleanup.

“A lot of people come out just to help because they’re like family,” he said.

That same kind of neighborly support can be found in Riverside, too.

“All our neighbors are really amazing here, and we always take care of each other,” Graves said.

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