Transcripts

SPEAKER: I mentioned the wild weather last night in portions of Central Southern Minnesota. Northern Minnesota. Storms that hit Central Minnesota include two confirmed tornadoes in Litchfield and Watkins. There was a deluge of rain that fell in places like sturgeon lake, which saw about 11 inches of rain. Residents in those communities and surrounding areas now face a big cleanup job. Details this morning from Matt Sepic.

MATT SEPIC: Meeker County Sheriff Brian crews says the tornado first hit Litchfield, skirting the town's Northwest side. It damaged some trailer homes there and destroyed at least two other homes. Crews says law enforcement officers saw the twister go back up into the air before it came down again 16 miles to the North in Watkins. Hawley Schumacher and Dan Sergeant were at Gordy's bar on Central Avenue when they heard the weather sirens.

HAWLEY SCHUMACHER: I was sitting at the bar and all of a sudden, I seen the wind start and we ran into the basement. And then as I was going into the basement, I looked out the window and I seen a piece of siding fly by the window, so I booked it downstairs.

DAN SERGEANT: It wasn't really loud noise or anything. It was super windy for about two minutes and then it was completely gone.

MATT SEPIC: The tornado that struck Litchfield appears to have returned to earth right on top of the corrugated steel building housing Cramar Electric, a contracting business. The neighboring farm fields show no evidence of damage, but the building's back end is collapsed into a pile of crumpled sheet metal and splintered wooden trusses. A piece of the wall is wrapped around a utility pole. Another is lodged in a tree across the street at Saint Anthony's cemetery.

White insulation blown out of the wall sticks to the wet parking lot like snow, with the sun setting and heavy gray clouds still in the sky. Cramar's employees, family and friends pitch in to clean up. Some clear the debris with heavy equipment and by hand, others wheel away file cabinets and tools from the section of the building that's still partly standing. Melissa Kniffley of nearby Paynesville was among the dozens of people there. She was driving home with a co-worker when the tornado hit.

MELISSA KNIFFLEY: We were in the storm and came through town and stopped to help.

MATT SEPIC: Owner Flavien Cramar, who has insurance, says his employees were not injured and he was not in the building when the storm hit.

FLAVIEN CRAMAR: Went home for a while and as soon as it passed, I headed back into town and this is what I came upon.

MATT SEPIC: The damage to Cramar's property shows both the immense power of tornadoes and the precision of their destruction. 20 paces behind the demolished building is an array of solar panels not one has a scratch. Cramar says that's especially remarkable because the panels sit freely on a concrete pad.

FLAVIEN CRAMAR: That thing's not attached. It's just a floating system, not anchored at all.

MATT SEPIC: The tornado also damaged homes, along with a nursing home in Watkins that had to be evacuated. The Red Cross says it's helping 50 people find food, clothing, and a place to stay, but reported injuries in the town so far are minor. Flash flooding threatens much of the region today from the Brainerd lakes area to Northwestern Wisconsin. In Stearns County, emergency manager Aaron Hausauer says the city of sartell had to close off some overflowing streets.

AARON HAUSAUER: They have the ongoing flooding issues, but we did experience them widespread throughout the County all evening.

MATT SEPIC: Because the storm happened in the late afternoon, Hausauer says damage assessment in Stearns County will begin in earnest today. Matt Sepic, Minnesota Public Radio news, Watkins.