(Harlan, Iowa) – A tornado siren malfunction may have rattled a few nerves Sunday night, as severe storms were passing through the Shelby County. According to social media post by Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo, several residents in Harlan heard a tornado siren [sound] Sunday due to a malfunction. Londo said “The siren located at Dr Joseph Spearing park went off on its own at 11:15pm. After crews responded and deactivated the siren the battery backup system kicked on at that siren and started sounding it again shorty after midnight.”

According to Londo, that was the reason the siren went off twice Sunday night, “for extended periods of time.” Repairs were being made to the siren Monday morning.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – A collision April 27th resulted in a total of $15,000 damage, but no one was injured. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office Monday (today), said the accident happened at the intersection of North and 12th Streets, in Guthrie Center. Authorities say a 2021 transit bus driven by 75-year-old George W. Hunt, of Guthrie Center, was traveling eastbound on North Street at around 3:30-p.m., and stopped at the intersection. Hunt told Deputies he looked down the road on 12th Street, but didn’t see an oncoming northbound 2014 Buick Verano, due to a house on the corner that obstructed his vision.

When Hunt proceeded into the intersection, he saw the oncoming car at the last minute, but was unable to stop. The transit bus was struck by the Buick, which was driven by 53-year-old Roberta Ann Nicholson, of Guthrie Center. No citations were issued, due to obstructed vision.

(Radio Iowa) – Reports say a woman in eastern Iowa survived a lightning strike in Sunday afternoon’s severe thunderstorms, while a tornado touched down in southwest Iowa’s Fremont County near Hamburg about 8 last night. That twister was relatively weak and there are no reports of significant damage. Meteorologist Alexis Jimenez, at the National Weather Service, says the biggest trouble-maker in this round of storms was large hail. “We’ve had quite a few reports of hail, especially in the afternoon hours yesterday,” Jimenez says. “We had up to baseball-sized hail out in places near Carroll. You also had a lot of reports of damage from hail in places like Grinnell. We also had two-inch hail in Ames.” Trees and power lines were damaged, causing power outages in Cedar, Iowa and Keokuk counties, with the largest outage being about a thousand homes in Johnson County.

“We also did have some damaging wind reports,” Jimenez says. “We had some severe wind gusts last night, especially in places like Osceola, we had some damage reports down there.” Strong winds blew a semi onto its side on Interstate 80 near Grinnell, injuring the truck’s driver and tying up traffic. Wind gusts exceeded 60 miles an hour in some places, including near Collins in Story County. “We also had some power lines that had been knocked down on Highway 65,” she says. A photo from the Story County Sheriff’s Office shows a whole row of utility poles either snapped off by the straight-line winds or leaning to the side with the wires still attached. The weather service is still weeding through dozens of spotter reports of large hail.

“Just a lot of hail damage to siding and to roofs where we did have those severe hail reports,” Jimenez says. “We did have some straight-line wind damage, just a lot of trees down.” Multiple media reports say a woman was struck by lightning about 4:30 P-M Sunday in a Target parking lot in Cedar Rapids. She was reportedly alert and conscious when first responders arrived, though no name or condition report was released.

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports four recent arrests:

Friday evening, 22-year-old Kaylee Marie Kingery, of Greenfield, was arrested in the 100 block Manor Drive, in Creston. Kingery was charged with Driving while Barred. She was cited and released at the scene. And, at around 11:20-p.m., Friday, 31-year-old William Alwynn Darius Bell, of Creston, was arrested in the 800 block N Sumner. Bell was charged with a FTA (Failure to Appear) Warrant thru New Mexico, on original charges of Robbery and Attempt to Commit a Felony. Bell was taken to the Union County Jail and held, while awaiting extradition to New Mexico.

Saturday night, 40-year-old Charles Edward Miller, of Creston, was arrested at the Creston Union County LEC. Miller was charged with OWI 1st Offense. He was taken to the Union County Jail and later released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, Sunday evening, 28-year-old Tania Patricia Hernandez, of Creston, was arrested at her residence. Hernandez was charged with allowing an Animal to run at Large. She was cited and released from the scene.

Creston Police said also, a Creston man reported Sunday evening, that while shopping at Bomgaars in Creston, his keys and wallet were taken. The loss estimated at $51.

(Radio Iowa) – A man convicted of attempted murder after shooting a Linn County Deputy seven times during a robbery at a gas station in Coggon in June 2021 has been sentenced to 102 years in prison. Stanley Donahue will have to spend at least 40 of it behind bars. The Linn County Deputy, William Halverson, has recovered and is back on duty. He was one of the victims who gave an impact statement at the hearing before Donahue’s sentencing on Friday.