Cleanup Begins Following Wild Weather Monday

Originally published May 31st, 2022 5:44 a.m.

Updated May 31st, 2022 9:43 a.m.

(KNSI) — Survey teams from the National Weather Service are being deployed to the hardest hit areas to look at damage left behind from Monday’s severe weather.

The primary survey locations from Tuesday are Carver, Douglas, McLeod, Pope, Stevens, Swift, and Todd Counties. High winds, heavy rain, and a suspected tornado toppled trees and powerlines and damaged numerous buildings Monday afternoon and evening.

Some of the worst damage is in the already storm battered town of Forada, near Alexandria in Douglas County. This latest storm wiped out dozens of buildings, including homes and farm structures. Earlier this month, a line of storms roared through western Minnesota, packing winds of 100 miles an hour that knocked down powerlines and caused farm silos to crumble.

Damage to trees and powerlines, sheds, and outbuildings was reported across central Minnesota amid high winds in Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, and Wright Counties. Thousands of people were left without power following the two rounds of storms Monday morning and later Monday afternoon and evening.

Meanwhile, federal emergency management officials are in central Minnesota and elsewhere to assess the damage left by storms and tornadoes earlier this spring. Teams will verify damage to public infrastructure in Benton, Kandiyohi, Morrison, and Stearns County and determine if the scope of the damage exceeds local and state resources. The preliminary damage assessment is the first step in deciding if Governor Tim Walz will be able to request a presidential declaration of disaster.

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