'Somebody Watched Over Me': Homeowners Grateful After Near Misses In Faribault Storm
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Blown over semis, tornado advisories, hail-covered highways, thunderstorms and snow: Tuesday was certainly a wild weather day.
Strong winds led to quite the scene down near Faribault where nine semis were blown over on Interstate 35, bringing traffic to a complete stop early Tuesday afternoon.
Similar scenes were playing out all across Faribault Tuesday. Intense wind ripped off roof shingles, tipped power poles and uprooted trees. By Wednesday afternoon, roughly 40 homes remained without power. There are no reported injuries from the storm.
"Everything just hit the fan," said Jan Sinna, who lives southwest of the city. "No warning, no warning at all."
Sinna was in her home watching television when a 100-year-old maple tree and a two-story windmill came crashing down within feet of her home.
"Just sitting that close to the window, it could have all come through," she said. "I could have been killed. Somebody watched over me."
FARIBAULT STORM DAMAGE: A windmill and 100-year-old maple tree came within a foot of this home off of Canby Ave. The homeowner says she was in her living room and had no idea the storm passing through was so strong.
— Adam Duxter (@AdamDuxter) April 13, 2022
She says she's grateful things weren't worse. @wcco #Mnwx pic.twitter.com/3tBhrAUdC4
Throughout the city, several trees did land on homes -- including Donavan Rieken's.
"I was just carrying laundry up, and I heard a huge crash and the house shook a little bit," Rieken said. "The tree had fallen, had landed on my roof, on my house, put a hole in my roof."
Rieken says the tree crashed into his child's room but says no one was hurt when it happened.
"This could have been a lot worse. That's a lot of tree. It could have been a lot worse," he said.
Snow in Cannon Falls? No. That is hail coating the roads. A slippery and dangerous situation earlier this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/oZvOba599h
— Chris Shaffer (@WCCOShaffer) April 12, 2022
In extreme southern Minnesota, there were tornado advisories issued late Tuesday evening. In an update late Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said that preliminary storm damage surveys indicate that that an EF-2 tornado likely touched down in Taopi. The NWS is publishing their findings online here.
It wasn't just the wind causing damage and challenges, but the hail, too. Hail was reported in places like Northfield, Cannon Falls and White Bear Lake.