The Burnett County Sentinel 7-24-2019

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BURNETT COUNTY

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2019 VOL. 57 NO. 28 www.burnettcountysentinel.com $1.00

ZOOM! Photos from the annual Gandy Dancer Fly-In Airshow. P13-14

Thunderstorm glances Burnett, hits Polk County JONATHAN RICHIE EDITOR@BURNETTCOUNTYSENTINEL.COM

A severe thunderstorm came through the area on Friday evening around 5 p.m. The storm brought in winds over 80 mph, hail, heavy rainfall and damage to buildings. A majority of the storm damage was reported in Polk County. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on Saturday providing an update on the storm. “Communities included in the path of this were Cushing, Frederic, Luck, Milltown, Centuria, Balsam Lake, Clayton and Turtle Lake. Our county sustained damage to buildings, power lines, property and trees. Flash flooding occurred. Presently there are approximately 6,925 residents of Polk County without power according to utility providers.” According to Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative on Monday morning, they were reporting over 2,000 Polk County residents were without power. There were 170 without power in Barron County and just six customers in Burnett County still without power. Saturday morning, Polk County Chairman Dean Johansen signed a Disaster Declaration for Polk County.

KAYLA CASEY | SENTINEL

Siren’s Rachel O’Brien, Triple Champion Siren’s Rachel O’Brien was the champion of the Women’s 800 Oval finals for the third year in a row. She rode around the course on her sled carrying the flag and holding her hand up with number one in the air. See more photos on pages 27-28.

Main Street construction to begin July 29 JONATHAN RICHIE SENTINEL EDITOR

GRANTSBURG––The Village of Grantsburg has released a tentative timeline for the reconstruction of Main Street. Work will begin July 29 by putting in a new water main extension. The Village was awarded a Community Development Block Grant for Public Facilities (CDBG-PF.) The 50/50 grant will be used to fund several projects to re-invigorate downtown Grantsburg and Madison Avenue. The

CDBG-PF is a program sponsored by the Federal government and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with the money being dispersed by the Wisconsin Department of Administration. The project is estimated to cost $760,000, Grantsburg has been awarded $380,000 and the other half will come from the village and may include in-kind donations. The project was split into two parts – east and west of Madison Avenue. Initially the village had in-

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tended on starting the project in late May or early June and begin the second half after Watercross. Crews from WE Energies were in town on Monday replacing gas mains and services. They will have started at the intersection of Brad Street and Madison Avenue and then went to the intersection of Oak Street and Madison Avenue. Stage one of the project will be putting in a new water main extension on Madison

“This declaration will allow Polk County Emergency Management to seek disaster funding if recovery costs exceed established thresholds.” The Polk County Sheriff’s office also said there were a number of fires reported along with sparking power lines. There were no major injuries reported by the office. There was a power outage in the Siren area for about 90 minutes on Friday evening. NWE and Polk Burnett Electric Cooperative was updating their Facebook page over the weekend and were providing information for members. Polk-Burnett was also giving information on how to stay safe after the storm. Including stay away from downed power lines, if using a generator be sure to use a transfer switch to keep electricity from back feeding into system and check meters for damage. “If all goes well, power should be restored (Monday) to many members in Balsam Lake, Bone Lake and Half Moon Lake areas,” Polk-Burnett said in a statement released Monday. “Likely by the end of the week before all repairs are made, especially on the east side of the system in and around Barron County.”

POLK-BURNETT ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

Crews have been working across the region to clean up from the storm Friday evening.

SEE MAIN STREET, PAGE 2

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