Tornadoes Damage Farms in Midwest
Sunday June 13, 2004 6:01 AM
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Tornadoes damaged farm buildings and crops as violent thunderstorms battered southeastern Minnesota, northern Iowa and Nebraska. One twister destroyed David Mickelson's barn, home, garage, machine shed and silo south of Otho, Iowa.
``You work all your life to build up a place like this and in a matter of seconds it's all gone,'' Mickelson said.
No injuries were reported in the storms that started Friday afternoon and continued through the evening.
At least six tornadoes touched down near the south-central Kansas town of Mulvane on Saturday evening, destroying one home and damaging another, overturning cars and downing power lines. Several other tornadoes were reported elsewhere in the state, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Seven tornadoes struck southeastern Minnesota on Friday, smashing at least two farms and several homes near LeRoy, about 40 miles south of Rochester, which got 1.34 inches of rain.
In Iowa, the weather service estimated five to 10 tornadoes touched down in Webster County, including the one near Otho. About five tornadoes touched down in rural Clay County, said sheriff Randy Drukow. One was about a half-mile wide, but most of the damage was to crops, Drukow said.
Another twister destroyed a farm building near Hartley in O'Brien County.
``It's gone, it's completely gone,'' said Anne Koontz, O'Brien County Emergency Management coordinator.
Tornadoes also were reported in Iowa's Hamilton, Palo Alto, Kossuth and Emmet counties, and hail up to 2 inches in diameter hammered parts of Webster County, authorities said.
Torrential rain, hail and at least one tornado battered eastern Nebraska. No injuries were reported.
The National Weather Service, said a tornado touched down near Cedar Bluffs west of Fremont around 12:40. There were no reports of damage.
The state's capital was in a complete blackout for about four minutes Saturday evening after Lincoln Electric System was shut off.
System spokesman Russ Reno said a tornado last month downed three of six lines that feed electricity into Lincoln. Saturday's storm took down two of the remaining lines, causing the last one to overload. Officials shut it down to protect the system, Reno said.
``It was an unusual situation. It was not a very long time, but it was a potentially dangerous situation'' for the system, Reno said.
Heavy rain hit parts of southwestern West Virginia on Saturday, forcing evacuations and closing all roads into the town of Matewan. Homes also were evacuated in other parts of Mingo County and in Mercer County.
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