EF-1 tornado touched down in Melrose on Saturday, NWS confirms
MELROSE, Minn. — The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in a small central Minnesota town Saturday night.
The EF-1 tornado struck Melrose shortly before 9 p.m. with wind speeds reaching up to 95 mph.
The National Weather Service is currently surveying the damage. No injuries have been reported so far.
Severe storms worked their way through Minnesota Saturday afternoon and evening, bringing hail and damaging winds to much of the state. The tornado in Melrose was the only one reported in Saturday's storms.
Deb and Glen Klaphake were out of town while everything they have in Melrose was hit hard.
"Our neighbor called us and said, 'Are you guys home? Your garage is down and part of your house roof is off,'" Glen Klaphake said. "We have shattered glass [from blown-out windows] inside the house sticking into the walls."
The Klaphakes' workshop across the street was destroyed and their tractors were totaled.
"Deb was screaming, 'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,'" Glen Klaphake said.
Jake Primus, a WCCO Weather Watcher in Melrose, captured video of the storms and measured hail at three inches in diameter.
"[The tornado] came on very fast," Primus said. "I live north of town. I spotted the tornado to the south, knew right away those twirling clouds, rotating clouds, weren't straight-line winds."
What happened Sunday, the day after the tornado, made things so much easier on the Klaphakes.
Dozens of people showed up to support however they could, including a complete stranger who brought food.
Neighbors helped clean up trees, clear debris and start on roof repairs.
"It's a small town, but people really come together," Primus said.