Storm causes significant damage in Dover, Bureau County

All roads leading to Dover, about 7 miles northeast of Princeton, were shut down to all nonresidents and nonemergency vehicles Sunday after a storm caused significant damage in the community.

Ameren crews continued working through Monday morning to restore power to the village. A cooling center was established at Dover’s town hall with bottled water available, according to the Bureau County Emergency Management Agency.

A complex of storms moved across Bureau County on Sunday, formed by a mesoscale convective vortex, which appears as a band of swirling storm clouds on a radar, said Peter Speck, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities.

“It hit a ready and ripe region of humid air mass,” Speck said. “Then it took off.”

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Ameren crews replace a power pole Monday, June 17, 2024, on South Street in Dover. Streamline winds knocked out power to the town. Down limbs and power lines closed roads in the town. (Scott Anderson)

The instability in the weather system caused the severe storms that swept through Bureau County with 60 to 70 mph winds. There was no evidence of a tornado.

There are multiple snapped poles and lines down throughout the town. As of 11 p.m. Sunday, parts of town had power restored.

Sunday afternoon, a storm swept through Bureau County with significant winds and hail. The storms resulted in two of the Flags of Freedom in Princeton flying off their poles, but they have since been located and some downed trees in Arlington, among other locations across the county.

The EMA Field Service Unit members helped deploy a light tower and traffic cart to Dover after and helped establish a cooling center. Casey’s North in Princeton donated water for the cooling center and the Malden Fire Department provided a dinner for volunteers.