By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

A small area just west and north of Tampa was pummeled early Friday morning with wind-driven rain and hail.

Dispatchers reported that callers had seen flooding at 360th and Limestone, 330th and Nighthawk, 290th and Nighthawk, and 240th and Kanza Rds.

Randy Frank, county emergency management director, noted Friday evening that Hillsboro had had four inches of rain and said the only reports of damage he had received were from limbs down in Hillsboro.

He said he said he had not been made aware of damage in the northern part of the county.

“It was mostly rural flooding, that I am aware of,” he said.

The homestead of Lacy and Susan Wallace, 1¼ miles west of Tampa, saw major damage. Lacy said the wind and hail came at 2:30 or 3 a.m. from the southeast. It didn’t last long, but long enough to do damage, he said.

Siding on the east and south sides of the house and gutters were damaged. Windows didn’t break but frames were dented. Red paint on the granary and barn was damaged.

The garage roof needs to be replaced, but high-impact shingles put on the house five years ago spared the roof.

Fruit trees lost their fruit and some limbs.

A metal building and metal white fences were not damaged.

The insurance adjuster was due Monday.

“We’re in cleanup mode,” Wallace said. “I’m sure our insurance will come through for us.”

John Hajek of Tampa had a corn field nearby that was stripped of foliage. Jim and Kris Srajer live just north of there. Their farmstead also was hit by the hail.

The area received 6 to 6½ inches of rain, and most of northern Marion County received at least 5 inches.

Ron Jirak of Jirak Produce said his produce crops escaped the hail. Areas of his farm that were damaged by the July 4 rains were hit again but were no longer in production, and no further damage was sustained.

“It’s like being a prize fighter,” he said. “You get knocked down, and you get back up and keep going.”