Strong storms moved through the No Coast Network listening area late Monday morning (8/10) into the noon hour.  Mahaska County E-911 Director Jamie Robinson says several trees were knocked down in the county, but no one was injured.

Chainsaw crews have been busy this afternoon removing trees that were knocked down by the storms. We’ve had several reports of power outages in the region; MidAmerican Energy crews have also been working to restore electricity.

When Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued Monday, Mahaska CountyEmergency Management received about 70 911 calls from people asking whythe storm sirens were on.  Mahaska County E-911 Director Jamie Robinson says calling 911 for that information is the wrong thing to do.

“People should not call 911 to ask why the sirens are going off.  The first thing you should do is check local news and local weather. Then you can see why the sirens are going off. But overrunning the 911 center with phone calls is horrible.  It ties up staff that are answering all these phones when they have emergency notifications to get out to the public. And then the people that are calling on 911 asking why the sirens are going off, you’re taking a call away from someone having a heart attack. Tying up 911 services in the middle of severe weather is a horrible thing to do. It could cost someone a life.”

Robinson adds that you shouldn’t call 911 to ask for a phone number for MidAmerican Energy or your local electric utility, either.  For that, use a phone book or look for the number online.