UPDATE: St. Mary’s school, church in Ellis suffer damage from Wednesday storm

A quick moving thunderstorm Wednesday night tore off part of the roof of St. Mary’s School in Ellis. Many classroom supplies and textbooks were water damaged and must be replaced.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

ELLIS — St. Mary’s Catholic School, 605 Monroe, Ellis, suffered roof damage from Wednesday evening’s storm, which began at about 7 p.m. and quickly passed.

A portion of the school’s roof blew off, and a portion of the gym’s rear brick wall collapsed. Part of the debris hit the adjacent church. Portions of a couple of the stain glass windows were broken. Debris also pierced the church’s roof.

Anticipating more rain, a group gathered at the school to try to board up as much as could be covered to prevent more damage.

Law enforcement encouraged anyone who was not directly involved in the cleanup effort to please avoid the area of the school.

Deputies also reported damage to two barns in northern Ellis County.

Straight-line winds were believed to have reached 80 mph or more.

Large limbs were down throughout the city of Ellis. However, no other major damage was reported.

One inch of rain was reported at the Eagle Media Center in Hays. Some street flooding was seen, however, not to the extent when a storm dumped four inches of rain on the city earlier this month.