WILLMAR — The National Weather Service reported high wind gusts early Monday morning in Willmar and Benson as a few rounds of thunderstorms moved through the area.
At 2:50 a.m. Monday, an 84-mph wind gust was reported near Benson and about 15 minutes later the Willmar Municipal Airport reported a wind gust of nearly 50 mph. The storms also brought heavy rainfall.
The majority of the damage came in the form of downed tree limbs, though there was some structural damage.
Benson Police Chief Ian Hodge said a few sheds lost roofs and one business suffered some damage. Several roads were blocked by downed trees and some homes had power outages due to tree limbs falling on the power lines that served those residences.
"The town is busy" with the cleanup, Hodge said. "I've seen a lot of trailers with tree limbs going through town."
In Willmar, Fire Chief Frank Hanson said a house fire at the 1900 block of Sixth Street Southwest was caused by a lightning strike. The Fire Department was able to get the fire under control within an hour.
Willmar Public Works Supervisor Gary Manzer said his crews were out by 4 a.m. Monday, cleaning up downed tree limbs. He said the cleanup will probably stretch into Tuesday.
"We are kind of all over the place," Manzer said.
The most significant damage in Kandiyohi took place at the old grain elevator right on U.S. Highway 12. The winds caused two of the bins to crumble and fall against the main elevator building.
Kandiyohi Mayor Gordy Woltjer said the bins had already been in a precarious state, being held up by the catwalk at the top. The bins were to be taken down Monday morning, to make sure they wouldn't fall further and block the railroad tracks.
Beyond the grain bins, it seemed Kandiyohi was spared any other structural damage.
"Just some trees," Woltjer said.
The storms also caused tree damage around Norway Lake.
Despite the damage that was left behind, the consensus was it could have been worse, especially with how high some of the wind gusts were.
"I feel we dodged a bullet," said Hodge. "It was not as bad as it could have been."
The storm hit the Games Lake County Park near New London hard and fast.
Dawn Oslund, of Blomkest, was alone in her camper when strong winds ripped through the area shortly after 3 a.m. Monday.
“I woke to hearing the awning tearing off the camper so I got up and I couldn’t get the patio door open right away,” she said. “But when I felt the camper tipping, and coming back down again, I knew I had to get out of here.”
Oslund said she forced the patio door open and grabbed her purse and her dog and headed to the storm shelter. When the storm died down, she came back see the damage on her camper.
“It was very scary.”
Katie Finstrom, of Kerkhoven, was in a camper with her husband and six kids, all under the age of 9, when Finstrom said she got an alert on her phone warning of the storm. They quickly secured their camper and that of another relative.
Because it was too late to run to the storm shelter, the crew hunkered in the middle of the camper with she and her husband ready to lay down on top of the children to protect them.
“It was rocking our camper really hard,” she said. “It wasn’t a long time but it felt long. But in retrospect it wasn’t too long.”
1/18: Grain bins at the old Kandiyohi Coop Elevator were crumpled by the high winds early Monday morning, caused by severe thunderstorms. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
2/18: A boat lift and dock sit damaged on the southeast side of Norway Lake Monday morning from an early morning thunderstorm with strong winds that hit Kandiyohi County. The boat on the boat lift has not been located yet. Steve Ammermann / West Central Tribune
3/18: A boat lift and dock sit damaged on the southeast side of Norway Lake Monday morning from an early morning thunderstorm with strong winds that hit Kandiyohi County. The boat on the boat lift has not been located yet. Steve Ammermann / West Central Tribune
4/18: The storms, which traveled south and east from Benson, caused fallen trees around West Norway Lake. Kelly Boldan / West Central Tribune
5/18: A tree fell on a home located near West Norway Lake. Severe storms with wind gusts above 60 mph blew through several communities including Benson, Willmar and Kandiyohi. Kelly Boldan / West Central Tribune
6/18: Broken tree branches were strewn across Games Lake County Park Monday after strong winds and rain ripped through west Central Minnesota around 3 a.m. Several campers to damaged but there were no reports of injuries. Carolyn Lange / West Central Tribune
7/18: Porta potties were tipped over in the parking lot at the Games Lake County Park near New London after a fast-moving storm moved through the area around 3 a.m. Monday. Carolyn Lange / West Central Tribune
8/18: Katie Finstrom, of Kerkhoven, was in a camper with her husband and six kids under the age of nine when a quick strom packing high winds hit the Games Lake County Park by New London. Tree branches fell on and around the camper causing minor damage. Carolyn Lange / West Central Tribune
9/18: Porta potties were tipped over in the parking lot at the Games Lake County Park near New London after a fast-moving storm moved through the area around 3 a.m. Monday. Carolyn Lange / West Central Tribune
10/18: Joy Henkel cleans up tree branches in her neighbor’s yard at the intersection of 8th Street North and Wyoming Avenue in Kerkhoven after a severe thunderstorm hit early Monday morning. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
11/18: A cleaned up tree stump is blocked off along 8th Street North in Kerkhoven after a severe thunderstorm hit early Monday morning. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
12/18: Construction vehicles remove tree limbs left at the intersection of 8th Street North and Idaho Avenue in Kerkhoven after a severe thunderstorm hit early Monday morning. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
13/18: Megan Iiams of Willmar Public Works cleans up tree branches along 13th Street Southwest in Willmar after a severe thunderstorm hit early Monday morning. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
14/18: Construction vehicles remove tree limbs left at the intersection of 8th Street North and Idaho Avenue in Kerkhoven after a severe thunderstorm hit early Monday morning. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
15/18: Grain bins at the old Kandiyohi Cooperative Elevator were crumpled by the high winds early Monday morning, caused by severe thunderstorms. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
16/18: Crews work to remove grain bins at the old Kandiyohi Cooperative Elevator that were crumpled by the high winds early Monday morning, caused by severe thunderstorms. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
17/18: A construction vehicle cleans up tree branches along Becker Avenue Southwest in Willmar after a severe thunderstorm hit early Monday morning. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
18/18: Grain bins at the old Kandiyohi Cooperative Elevator were crumpled by the high winds early Monday morning, caused by severe thunderstorms. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune
