Damaging storms hit area again

A little over two weeks after a powerful storm hit the Minneota area, another wave of storms hit the area early Monday morning and continued in waves throughout the day.
In the early morning hours, high winds split a large silver maple on the west side (Adams Street) of the Gene and Brenda Verschelde property and the toppled half landed on the roof of their garage/woodshop.
"I heard that tree come down around 3:30 (a.m.)," said Brenda. "We haven't had much luck with our trees in storms lately."
The tornado siren sounded around that time as locals scurried to their basements.
"I'm just going to move into my basement," joked one Minneota woman. "I've spent more time there lately than my living room anyway."
In the previous storm that hit Minneota, the Verscheldes lost a large silver maple on the east side of their home. That tree blew over right in between their house and a next-door neighbors, but surprisingly did no damage to either home despite the close proximity to one another.
"I saw that tree go down," said Brenda. "I still can't believe it fell right between us and didn't hit either house."
Power was reportedly knocked out in some outlying areas of Minneota for over 12 hours, but was restored around 7 p.m. on Monday.
A blue plastic kiddie swimming pool was seen lodged in some lower branches of a tree along Jefferson Street Monday morning.
A few other large branches were also seen on the ground around town early Monday, but there was no reported structural damage or injuries.
Around 4 p.m., a second storm cell hovered over Minneota and dumped nearly an inch of rain.
Storm spotters saw rotation and the tornado siren sounded, although there was no confirmed touchdown.
A third storm hit the Minneota area around 6:30 p.m. with high winds and more rain. Total rain accumulation for Monday was reportedly around 1.25 inches.
A wind advisory, with possible gusts up to 55 miles per hour, was issued for early Tuesday morning until 1 a.m.
Cottonwood was hit hard early Monday morning. Several large trees were uprooted throughout town, including 15-20 at the golf course. There were four large trees within a few yards of one another all uprooted and lying side by side in the fairway on one hole along County Road 10.
Many of the streets in residential areas of Cottonwood were closed for some time as trees and large branches were cleared.
Hanley Falls also reportedly had several trees uprooted and large branches broken off. Some homes also sustained roof damage. A metal shed at one farm outside of Hanley Falls was blown several hundred yards away.