Storm packs powerful punch

• Grain bin no match for wind

A grain bin just west of Worthington was smashed by the powerful winds that came through Friday night.
• Tree on roof

A tree lays upon the roof of a Worthington residence in the 1500 block of Second Avenue in the aftermath of Friday night’s severe thunderstorm
• Greenhouse cleanup

Ethan Vogel of Lake Wilson and Hunter Bolt of Worthington help pick up at VIP Garden Center in Worthington.
• Tree gives close call

A snapped branch is shown in front of a Fourth Avenue home.
• Golf course hazard

A tree snapped at its base at the Worthington County Club.
• Split in half

Fierce winds caused this tree on Miles Drive in Worthington to split, landing one branch on the sidewalk. Many roads were difficult to navigate as branches and limbs blocked access, though city workers began clearing streets shortly after the storm concluded.

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Saturday was a day of cleanup for many in southwest Minnesota after a storm swept through Friday night, knocking down trees, pulling down barns and causing havoc in many locations.

The reports that came into the National Weather Service Office vary from town to town, with wind gusts being clocked at 60 to 83 miles per hour.

“I got a call at about 7 a.m. and I knew it wasn’t going to be good,” said Stan Van Iperen of VIP Garden Center.

Half of the greenhouse had collapsed, with the metal frame being twisted and tangled until the structure was unrecognizable.

“This thing has withstood every summer storm since 1992,” said Clint Rohrer of VIP. “There are over eight tons of concrete blocks holding it down.”

But apparently Friday’s storm was one too many for the structure. The hardest part about cleaning up the mess, Rohrer said, was knowing which pieces to pick up first.

Many of the plants, Van Iperen said, could be salvaged by simply picking them up and letting them be. Others, however, were squashed beneath the weight of the greenhouse materials.

Over at the Worthington Country Club Saturday morning, staff and volunteers were working frantically to clean up the downed limbs and trees before a 1 p.m. event. General Manager Jim Hall said the club sent out calls and e-mails asking for help.

“There are quite a few people out there,” Hall said at about noon Saturday.

Luckily, the damage was contained to trees.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he added. “There could have been property damage.”

In his own yard, Hall stated, a limb had broken away from a tree and was hanging precariously over his driveway.

“I had to drive under it to get out, but the neighbors helped me take care of it,” he explained.

There were no reports of deaths or injuries resulting from the late Friday storm. There were several reports of trees that had landed on houses and vehicles, and according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Billy Williams, there were several property damage problems.

“At 10:25 p.m. there was a report of a house and barn down in Luverne,” Williams said. “At 10:45 p.m., a spotter estimated 60 mile per hour winds in Adrian.”

Within moments of the report, emergency management in Nobles County reported 67-mph winds in Adrian with dime-sized hail. Throughout the next 20 minutes, spotters, law enforcement and others reported wind speeds up to 71 mph, a roof blown off a barn and the destruction of a grain bin.

“Law enforcement reported a semi-truck that had blown off the Interstate in Nobles County,” Williams added. “And in Dovray, Murray County, there was a report of 83-mph winds.”

About 1.02 inches of rain fell between 11:15 and shortly after midnight Saturday, according to the website for Weather Underground. While the precipitation fell hard for a short time, it was the wind by far that packed the biggest punch.

By Saturday morning, the sound of chainsaw motors was common. Signs were blown down, including one at Burger King, and a canopy at the Travelodge gas station was partially gone. By mid-day, branches were piled at the end of driveways and cleanup had commenced in earnest.

“We’ll get a skid steer out here on Monday and see what we can get picked up,” Van Iperen stated, looking over the greenhouse mess in front of Ace Hardware. “We already stood a bunch of plants back up, but the structure was the worst.”

Tags: news, worthington, storm, weather, wind