Storm Damage on Campus

A severe windstorm swept through the Galesburg area Thursday afternoon. Damage but no injuries were reported on the Knox campus.

In addition to a number of trees and branches down on campus, two trees blew into the west side of Neal-Conger residence hall, causing some damage to the roof. The wind also lifted the southwest corner of the roof of Old Main and knocked a few bricks and blocks from the tower at the southwest corner of the building.

"We can be thankful that the campus suffered relatively little damage and very thankful there were no injuries," said President Roger Taylor, in an e-mail message to the campus on Thursday afternoon.

Shortly after the storm, P.J. Hoerr, the general contractor for the Hamblin Hall renovation, which is being completed this week, had a crew at Old Main assessing damage and conferring with College maintenance staff on temporary repairs.

Friday morning, students on the Prairie Fire fall sports teams --volleyball, women's golf, women's tennis, women and men's cross country, men and women's soccer, and football -- will help pick up debris from the storm. Residence halls are scheduled to open for new students on September 1 and for returning students on September 4, with the first day of fall term classes on September 6.