Strong Winds In Faribault Blow Over 9 Semis On I-35, Uproot Trees Across Town
FARIBAULT, Minn. (WCCO) -- Strong winds blew over multiple semis on Interstate 35 south of Faribault early Tuesday afternoon.
At roughly 2 p.m., MnDOT video showed several semis overturned on the interstate. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, nine semis in total were tipped over due to strong winds, but no injuries have been reported.
There is storm damage on virtually every block of Faribault's south side. Uprooted trees, tipped power poles, shingles ripped off roofs. Neighbors were stunned by the intensity of Tuesday afternoon's brief storm.
"I thought for sure it was a tornado. I was sitting by my bay window in my home and I could just see the winds coming. And it just got nasty, dark, lightning," resident Lisa Meyer Dodge said.
In the aftermath, hail blanketed the ground and was windblown into large chunks of ice.
"It looks like there's snow on the ground everywhere you go around town. It's kind of unbelievable," resident Dave Becker said.
"Hail just poured. It was maybe pea-size but it just came down. I've never seen so much hail," Dodge said.
One woman away on vacation is going to come home to wrecked patio furniture and a damaged roof. Lenny the dog is enjoying all the new branches to play with, but the impact of the storm is less fun for the Racines.
"Something hit the front window so I got up and I looked out and I saw one tree down in the cemetery," resident Chris Racine said. "First time ever in my whole life of living in this town that I went downstairs. And was maybe three minutes, and I came up and all the trees were down."
A massive tornado moved across Iowa Tuesday afternoon, but nothing that severe was reported in Minnesota. A second round of severe weather occurred late Tuesday evening, with tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings issued in the southeastern corner of the state.