Severe storms cause major damage across northern Minnesota
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Severe storms with winds of more than 100 mph left major damage across a wide swath of northern Minnesota overnight.
The storms also produced tornadoes across eastern North Dakota, with authorities reporting at least three people killed by a tornado that touched down late Friday near Enderlin, southwest of Fargo.
In Minnesota, Bemidji was among the communities hit hard by the storms — with officials advising against unnecessary travel in the city and the surrounding area on Saturday due to numerous downed trees and power lines.
“I’ve been around a good part of our community, there is significant damage from the storms last night,” said Jorge Prince, Bemidji mayor. “There have been some reported gas leaks that were dealt with, lots of storefronts that have been heavily damaged, just a lot of damage.”
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Jill Beardsley, owner of Lake Bemidji Bed and Breakfast, located about a one-half mile from downtown, says her yard sustained heavy damage.
“A basswood tree that I know is 100 years old is completely split in half, leaning over our 100-year-old wrought iron fence,” she said. “We have about five pine trees that are all completely down.”
Shingles were ripped off the roof of the house, but it escaped other damage.
Guests staying at the bed and breakfast spent part of the night in the basement with Beardsley.
Beardsley worries people planning to visit Bemidji for next week’s Minnesota Northwoods Writer’s Conference will cancel upcoming reservations.
“I do have a full house,” she said. “I don’t know if they’re coming … I’m just so overwhelmed.”
The National Weather Service Grand Forks office said a 106 mph wind gust was reported at the Bemidji airport just before 1 a.m. Saturday.
At about 2:30 a.m., Beltrami County Emergency Management reported “extensive damage around the Bemidji area and much of southern Beltrami County. Please do not travel unless it is an emergency. Many roads are blocked and there are a ton of power lines down. Unfortunately there is significant structure damage as well. We are responding to many gas leaks. Please hold non-emergency calls to dispatch as they are overwhelmed.”
Utilities were reporting more than 50,000 homes and businesses without power across northern Minnesota on Saturday morning. Beltrami Electric Cooperative reported “widespread outages across our entire service area.”
As of 5:30 p.m. Saturday, thousands of people in Bemidji remained without power. Hundreds of others were predicted to lose power.
“There are trees down, buildings damaged and there is damage to Minnkota’s transmission lines as well,” the utility reported during the early morning hours. “This will be a joint restoration effort as the lines feeding our substation need to be repaired before we can restore power. We will know more once daylight comes, but we expect this will take more than a couple of days.”
The American Red Cross was handing out non-perishable food to people in need on Saturday.
“They had some fruit, some apples and oranges and water for everybody,” said Sydney Dick, a reporter for Lakeland PBS. “Even if you just need some air conditioning or anything they have it set up for the day shelter.”
On Saturday afternoon, Carrie Carlson-Guest, American Red Cross of the Minnesota and Dakotas region, said there are dozens of volunteers on the ground in Bemidji and those numbers are “growing by the minute.”
The Red Cross may also turn The Sanford Center into an overnight shelter if people need a place to stay, Carlson-Guest added.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Sunday afternoon.
The storm damage forced the cancellation of Saturday’s annual Loop the Lake Festival, a bike ride around Lake Bemidji. The annual Bemidji Blaze Softball Tournament also was canceled due to “extensive” damage at city softball fields, and the no-travel advisory.
A number of businesses in Bemidji announced they would be closed Saturday because of the storm damage and ongoing power outages.
Bethany Bible Camp — located between Bemidji and Cass Lake — reported that all its campers and staff were OK, but there was “significant damage to some buildings, and there are a lot of trees down.” It was asking parents to come pick up children at the camp.
The storms continued rolling east across northern Minnesota overnight, producing hail, strong winds and torrential rain. There were reports of wind damage in other communities, including Cass Lake and Crosslake. The storms cleared the state by sunrise.
Flood advisories were in place through Saturday afternoon for the Iron Range and parts of the North Shore, following the heavy rain overnight.
Organizers of Grandma’s Marathon between Two Harbors and Duluth delayed the start of Saturday’s marathon and half-marathon by 30 minutes due to the storms.
North Dakota tornadoes
The storms that raked northern Minnesota also produced multiple reports of tornadoes in North Dakota — including a tornado that left at least three people dead.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office said the deaths happened near the community of Enderlin, about 35 miles southwest of Fargo, just after 11:30 p.m. Friday. There was extensive storm damage in the area, with authorities continuing to check on area residents through the overnight hours.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
