Weak tornado damages National Guard's Camp Ripley
Updated: 10:50 a.m. | Posted: 8:24 a.m.
A small tornado swept through the National Guard barracks at Camp Ripley late Wednesday night.
High winds tore the roofs off two large buildings, destroyed a maintenance shed and tossed debris out into a field of recently installed solar panels at the camp and training center in Little Falls.
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A group of soldiers were staying on the lower floors of one of the damaged buildings when the tornado touched down.
"They realized the storm was coming through," said Staff Sgt. Anthony Housey. "But it all happened so fast they weren't even aware the roof had been taken off the building until their windows started rattling."
There were no serious injuries, in part because the camp was light staffed. If the tornado had touched down two days later, Housey said four times as many soldiers would have been in the path of the storm.
The damage will delay completion of a $25 million solar field on the camp grounds. The 60 acre field was a joint project between the National Guard and Minnesota Power. Housey said it was nearly complete, but debris from the storm destroyed at least 50 panels.
The storm damage means the field won't be switched on until spring.
The National Weather Service determined it was an EF-1 tornado that touched down.