On Monday, several Minnesota counties were damaged and affected by strong tornadoes that made its way through the state. Watkins and Litchfield were the most affected counties, with over 20 houses damaged between 5 and 7 p.m.
Central Minnesota citizens experienced strong tornadoes and flooding warnings from Monday to Tuesday. From 15 to 20 houses were damaged by the strong winds, having their roofs taken off or ripping houses from the ground.
According to the Litchfield Police Sheriff, this has been the worst damage they have seen in the state in over 10 years. Although no injuries have been reported, several houses and goods have been lost.
Reports from the state show houses without walls or roofs, garages being ripped apart, cars upside down, trees all over the road and debris found through residential streets. Images and videos of the strong tornadoes were captured via social media.
YIKES! Tornado seen earlier this evening near Litchfield, Minnesota. Photo credit: Shelly Bogatzki. #Tornado #MNwx pic.twitter.com/GdyVNVNOtf
— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) July 11, 2016
“It was kind of calm outside and the sirens went off and the trees started whipping all around and we went inside,” said John Jacklitch a Litchfield resident to local news. “We heard our windows shatter, so we didn’t come out for a while,” Jacklitch added.
Two houses were completely destroyed in Litchfield, reported Mayor Keith Johnson. The hoses were located by County Road 1 and 5th Street. Fortunately, no one was hurt during the tornadoes strong winds.
The American Red Cross arrived with volunteers to help around 50 elders that were living in a health care center in Watkins. The residents were evacuated after the twister damaged the residential roof.
About 50 residents of the health care center in Watkins were helped and moved in buses to different facilities.
#Minnesota #Tornado! Look & listen to this first hand account from Monday's severe storms. pic.twitter.com/WOv4Fj33Qn
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) July 12, 2016
Other counties were warned from tornadoes, but later on, the alarms were cancelled. In Benton and Stearn the alarms went off around 8 p.m. Meanwhile, in Sherburne County the warning stopped around 9:15 p.m.
Rains and thunderstorms were reported across the state, what caused the closing of roads and highways, such as the Interstate Hwy. 35 on Pine County. Rains of almost 9 inches were reported in several other counties.
Authorities of the state are working on helping the most affected zones and calculating a number of structural damage citizens have suffered. For the time being, citizens and different area residents are cleaning up part of the damage.
Further investigations will show the bigger image of the damage caused in the state
Source: CBS Minnesota