Tornado near Detroit Lakes leaves mess to clean up, as well as opportunities for scammers
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A chorus of chainsaws fill the air surrounding Floyd Lake, just north of Detroit Lakes, as cleanup and recovery efforts continue following Monday's tornado. The twister carved a path nearly a half-mile wide and 7-miles long, causing extensive damage to homes, buildings and trees.
According to the Floyd Shores Lake Association, about 100 homes near and around Floyd Lake were damaged by the tornado.
Along the lake’s residential shoreline, the tornado’s 115 mph winds overturned boats and destroyed docks. A day after the disaster, the damage was so severe that David Pettit, president of Floyd Shores Lake Association, was unable to reach the lake’s west shore by boat because of “all the storm debris and everything that was on the lakeside.”
“I was walking over there, and it looks like one of those areas that you'd see after a hurricane went through, still,” Pettit said. “[The] east side is starting to return, I'm not going to say return to normal, because you've got huge piles of brush that are still waiting to be pulled out of the area.”
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Pettit said the focus now is on tree removal and addressing homes whose roofs were blown off “so they’re as weatherproof as possible.”
The storm left a vast amount of debris in Floyd Lake. Pettit said he’s seeking help from the Pelican River Watershed District, which oversees the health and water quality of area lakes, along with other lake associations, to remove it.
Some of the debris in the lake Pettit is concerned about includes roofing material from buildings, portions of destroyed docks and a “ton of sheet metal.”
“We're going to be relying on some of those outside organizations to come in and protect the quality of our lakes,” Pettit said. “So we don't have these hidden hazards for years to come.”
He said it would be too much to ask residents for their assistance because many of them are dealing with their own cleanup and repair issues.
Severe weather events can draw scam contractors
Although Pettit is not aware of any firsthand accounts, he said there have been some discussions over fraudulent companies being in the area. And the Becker County Sheriff’s Office is responding accordingly.
“They're asking any people that do feel like they were taken advantage of to contact the sheriff's office,” he said. “Then they can go ahead and get information and start assisting and pursuing that, so those people are held accountable.”
Instances of scammers following extreme weather events in the state are not uncommon, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
“Be very cautious of anyone who shows up at your door offering immediate repairs or pressuring you to sign a contract on the spot," said Sara Payne, the agency’s assistant commissioner of enforcement.
Payne said homeowners should ask for the contractor's license number, or they can call the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry to verify whether that contractor is licensed in the state. The Minnesota Department of Labor also hosts an online portal where users can look up that information or see if the contractor has a disciplinary history.
If a homeowner feels like they’re the victim of a predatory contractor, Payne encourages them to reach out to her agency.
“Contact us, so that we can try to assist as best as possible in making that situation right, or finding other resources for them to help them through that process,” she said.
Payne said the recent rash of severe weather across the state highlights the importance of homeowners knowing what to do if their property is damaged by a storm.
“Once the immediate danger has passed, it's a good time to take stock of the damage and begin the recovery process,” she said. “Walk around your property carefully and look for damage to your roof, siding, windows, trees, any other structures that you might have.”
Payne said to also take photos and videos of all the damage, as well as extensive notes. Because “good documentation can make the insurance claims process much smoother.” She said reasonable steps to prevent additional damage are OK to take, like tarping an opening in the roof, or boarding a broken window. But homeowners should talk to their insurance provider before starting any permanent repairs.
"They will be altering the state of their property,” Payne said. “And it may be much more difficult to document what the damage was and how much recovery the homeowner may receive for the repairs to their property."
Payne cautions most standard home insurance policies don’t cover flooding — that’s a separate policy. And that’s especially important for people in southern Minnesota and around the Austin area to know, because there is an elevated risk for it happening there.
