<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/new.gif" border=0> Storm causes damage in Southeast Kansas

May 08, 2009 10:31 am

— Authorities in Cherokee County and Crawford, Kan., were reporting widespread damage Friday morning in the wake of a severe thunderstorm that torn across the region.
A spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department said the entire county has been impacted by the storm and that many communities are without electrical power. The town of Columbus was among the hardest hit.
A spokesman for the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department said the southern half of the county was impacted by the storm. Trees were uprooted in Pittsburg and elsewhere.
Schools were closed at McCune because of storm damage there. Parents were being encouraged to return to the school to pick up their children. Phone lines to the school are down.