The winter ice storm from early January caused extensive damage throughout the state and limited damage in Lawrence. As weather warms up this week, ice will melt and refreeze causing dangerous road conditions. Facilities Operations crews are continuing to clean up fallen tree limbs and uprooted trees.

Damage on campus was minimal, said Vince Avila, associate director of Student Housing.

One heating line froze in Ellsworth Hall and some food spoiled while refrigerators were out of power during the storm.

Power outages lasted for a few hours and no major damage to university housing facilities occurred, Avila said.

According to a report from Kansas Emergency Management, the storm caused an estimated $40 million in damages statewide. Governor Kathleen Sebelius proclaimed 56 counties, including Douglas County, to be in a state of disaster emergency.

Mike Akulow, meteorologist for the National Weather Service forecast office in Topeka, said Lawrence was not as badly damaged as other areas.

“We got more sleet than the freezing rain around Wichita,” Akulow said. “Sleet doesn’t stick as much, so it wasn’t as bad here.”

Temperatures will rise this week, causing frozen tree limbs and ice to thaw, Akulow said. Ice that melts during the day could refreeze at night, resulting in dangerous driving conditions, Akulow said. Stressed tree limbs could also expand and break as temperatures rise, he said.

Westar Energy, the state’s largest energy provider, reported that 211,000 customers lost power because of the ice storm, with 121,000 customers out of power in Wichita alone. More than 11,000 customers in Lawrence lost power.

The company enlisted repair crews from various states to fix damaged power lines, some from as far away as West Virginia. Olsen said the last time the company experienced such widespread problems was during the winter ice storm in January 2002. She said that storm caused more damage to northeast Kansas, but did not cause as many power-outages statewide.

...

Limb drop-off

Saturday is the last day residents can take tree limbs and branches to Lawrence’s brush drop-off site.

Where: 1420 E. 11th St.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

Cost: Free Saturday. $3 to $4 a truckload after that

How: Bundles should not exceed 5 feet in length, 18 inches in diameter or 65 pounds per bundle.

Tree limbs and brush from a citizen’s private property may be taken to the location free of charge. (In April, it costs $3-4 a truckload). The limbs will be chipped and used as mulch throughout the city.

Private tree materials not taken to the drop-off site need to be properly bundled for city refuse collection during its weekly scheduled pick up. Materials need to be bundled and placed with trash for removal. It will be taken to the landfill.

For more info, call the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department at 785-832-3450

Source: Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department