KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. She also covers stories in the Northland. Share your story idea with La’Nita.
—
A severe hailstorm caused significant damage to buildings and vehicles in Paola on Wednesday night, leaving residents and business owners cleaning up shattered glass.
Fire Lake Soapery sustained some of the most significant damage. Owner and maker Laura Rozell was inside working when the storm hit.
"It started out kind of like oh, and then OH!" Rozell said. "We just heard shattering, and it sounded like glass breaking."
The aftermath left shattered windows, a damaged awning and totaled cars. Glass from lofts above Fire Lake Soapery shattered, too.
"Pretty much all the cars that were out front had significant hail damage, broken windows, glass everywhere," Rozell said. "It has impacted us because we spend a lot of time cleaning up."
Just a few minutes up the road, the Sundance apartment complex took a beating. The building's panels sustained damage, windows were boarded up and at least one car had its back window blown out. Crews were on site Thursday assessing the damage.
The storm appeared to hit at an angle, striking both the soapery and the apartment building on their south-facing sides. Many other buildings, including others in the apartment complex, received minimal, if any, damage.
Back at Fire Lake Soapery, Rozell is preparing for a clean slate.
"Insurance has been called, and I don’t really know what the damages are," she said. "But we’re all alive, and I haven’t heard of anyone being injured from it. So there’s not a price tag you can put on that."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
—
