Wednesday Storm Packed a Punch

Wednesday’s winds which reached 77 miles per hour caused about 95 percent of Liberal to lose power at about 9:15 p.m. But most Southern Pioneer customers had electricity back by about 9:45 p.m except for an area in north Liberal which didn’t get power back until 11:24 p.m. due to a broken power pole at Sierra Drive. A power pole also snapped at Western and Nevada but workers put up a new pole Thursday. The wind was strong enough to uproot a tree at a house on the east side of Harrison Circle.