Last Wednesday, a fierce storm blew into Journal Country. The event brought torrents of rain for some, a little hail and most destructive of all, incredibly powerful winds. In the aftermath, widespread damage was noted.
The storm became increasingly concerning mid-morning Wednesday when the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of the potential for 70 mile per hour winds and quarter size hail. That report did not due justice for what was about to come, however. The NWS soon reported 80 plus mph winds heading for the Britton area.
Marshall County Emergency Management Director Logan Roehr says he received multiple calls from the NWS during the morning. First, they warned of the 80 mile per hour wind then possibly winds over 90 mph. People would eventually receive alerts on their phones.
In town, thunder and lightning and driving rain soon barreled in. The trees doubled over under the strain of the winds. Branches broke off and even bigger trees crumbled. Britton Public Works Supervisor George Flanery said about six large trees were lost, in addition to many smaller limbs.
There was plenty of structure damage as well. At the Britton Ball Fields where so much work has been done in the past year, the damage was significant. Fences were flattened, bleachers were thrown around, and a huge light pole snapped off.
Water pooled and turned into rushing rivers on Main Street, side streets, ditches and parking lots as storm sewers struggled to keep up. Reporters in Britton noted over an inch and a half of rain in a short amount of time, but that was nothing compared to the three plus inches some people measured around Clear Lake.
Winds near Clear Lake, in Lake City and at Roy Lake were measured at 70 miles per hour by the NWS. Lake residents on Clear dealt with waves as high as many had ever seen. Docks were damaged or in some cases blown away. Boat lifts were mangled as boats themselves were battered. Afterwards, one lake resident shared a video of their pontoon on the lift getting overturned and blown down the shoreline.
In other places around Journal Country, the winds were even more destructive. The NWS measured winds of 92 miles per hour near Hillhead. In that neck of the woods, Sarah and Tony Carlson’s lake property at nearby Flat Lake took a hit. Their camper and two larger fish house were blown over. One fish house rolled several times before coming to a stop.
“The hills definitely had it worse,” said Roehr. He explained that he could draw a line southeast of Britton towards Veblen where the storm was most powerful. He adds that storm sirens in Lake City and Veblen were deployed.
After the fact, many dealt with power outages. Lake Region Electric noted wide ranging outages from Ft. Sisseton east to Red Iron Lake, Hillhead south to Cattail Lake, including Roy and Clear.
Crops also took a hit in some areas. Joe Gustafson of Full Circle in Britton noted a significant swath of flattened corn from Claremont to south of Britton. Chad Voss of Agtegra in Langford added that west and northwest of Langford there was significant spotty corn damage. “It’s too early to tell though if it’s just laid over or if the stalk is broken,” Voss said. “But either way, it’s never good to have corn that tall get laid down.”
Overall, Roehr added that no injuries were reported. He does remind individuals to heed weather bulletins and sign up to receive ALERTSENSE warnings.
