Widespread damage east of Twin Cities after tornado reports
SCANDIA, Minn. (FOX 9) - Areas east of the Twin Cities were among the hardest hits spots after storms ripped through Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday.
There were at least four reports of tornadoes created by the storms across Minnesota -- including one near the area of Scandia -- but none have been officially confirmed by the National Weather Service as of Sunday night.
There are also widespread reports of power outages across Minnesota and Wisconsin Sunday evening as crews worked to clean-up from the damage.
Daniel Kaiser said, "In probably 15, 20, 25 seconds, it was kind of in and out of here so that wind, it didn’t really last too long. I was just kind of amazed to see all of the trees down from the wind we had here."
Several decades old trees lay across Daniel Kaiser’s lawn in Scandia. He’s also dealing with some unusual debris.
"That’s one of the solar panels from across the street," he explains. "It’s amazing how much force that must have been coming through here carrying these things because they aren’t light."
One solar panel ended up stuck several feet off the ground in a tree. Onlookers were surprised by the damage.
"I’ve never seen that," said Rob Thompson. "Almost 52 years old and I’ve never."
Down the road, the damage was even worse.
"The siren went off and Terry said, 'Go downstairs' and so we all went downstairs," recalls Mark Johnson.
The Johnson’s roof was ripped off their pole barn.
"It just got underneath the roof and ripped the whole roof off and sucked all of the insulation out."
Despite the damage, people in Scandia were looking at Sunday's storm's silver lining.
"We’re safe. As long as we are alright that’s the main thing."
Farther west, the sheriff in Polk County, Wisconsin reports the area saw more damage on Sunday -- a little over a week after the county was hit by strong winds and heavy rain.
The sheriff said crews were still working to recover from last week's damage when the new storms passed through around 5:50 p.m.
Sheriff Brent Waak says it appears a tornado hit areas east of Bone Lake and moved northeast. The storm left significant damage behind, particularly in the area of County Road I between 240th and 250th avenues.
Video sent to FOX 9 shows what appears to be the remnants of a barn and silo in that area. Sheriff Waak says there were reports of a damaged silo.
The sheriff says, thankfully, there were no reported injuries. The county did evacuate the fairground ahead of the storms after reports of tornados to the west.
The emergency management center set up after last week's storm will continue to assist with the clean-up following Sunday's damage.