A fast moving storm Tuesday morning created havoc throughout Edgar County.

Emergency calls started almost immediately after the rain and wind struck. At 10:23 a.m. the Paris Fire Department was alerted about a stranded boat on the East Lake and firefighters responded with the department’s dive boat in anticipation of a water rescue. Upon arrival at the scene, authorities discovered the endangered craft had made it safely to shore.

The department was also dispatched for automatic fire alarms which were likely triggered by lightning and city street crews kept busy with down limbs and trees. One of the hardest hit areas was the Village of Vermilion where some residents believe a tornado struck.

“That’s not been confirmed,” cautioned Sharlyn Kraemer, assistant coordinator of the Edgar County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA). She added an onsite investigation at Vermilion does not initially support a tornado touchdown. “It was more like a downburst,” said Kraemer.

According to the National Weather Service website, downbursts occur when a column of cold air descends from the middle or upper levels of a thunderstorm. The column of air compresses as it encounters the ground and the action of being compressed increases the speed to sometimes even exceed that of a tornado. Unlike a tornado, which pulls air into the rotating column, the wind from a downburst spreads out after striking the ground.

ESDA also received reports of trees down in several locations around the county; however, property damage appears to be minimal.

Power outages accompanied some of the fallen trees and one of the areas impacted by a loss of power included the ESDA office.

“We were on the generator for awhile,” said Kraemer.

Angela Griffin of EnerStar Power Corporation said storm related damage resulted in power outages to approximately 1,600 customers in a wide area. EnerStar substations at Chrisman, Paris, Kansas, Ferrell and Marshall were affected. Linemen also dealt with down power lines across roadways in some locations. Broken poles were reported in the Elbridge and Martinsville areas. Griffin said power was fully restored to EnerStar customers by 9:30 p.m. and crews continued with clean up efforts today.

The Edgar County Home Extension issued a food safety advisory for people who were without power for several hours. According to the local extension office, food in a freezer will generally keep for up to two-days if the freezer is not opened. Food in a refrigerator is another matter as dangerous bacteria can start within a couple of hours after the temperature reaches 40 degrees or more inside the refrigerator. Frozen food that still has the presence of ice crystals can generally be safely refrozen. Consumers should not rely on smell or appearance to determine if food in the refrigerator is safe after an extended outage.