Weak tornado took off roof, downed trees and crops

Jul. 14--NORTH MANKATO -- Gary Lindsay and Rodney Puhrmann were in their neighboring garages when a tornado struck Saturday afternoon.

The rain was pouring so hard that Lindsay couldn't see or hear the twister as it took down trees and tore the roof off a machine shed just yards away on the farmstead the 81-year-old shares with his brothers just southwest of the North Links Golf Course.

Puhrmann, who lives a door to the east, heard an indescribable noise.

"It was just loud," he said.

Puhrmann then saw a large object sailing through the air. He ran to the house for shelter and noticed the door gave extra resistance. He now suspects the flying object to be part of the shed's roof and the door was affected by an air pressure change as the tornado passed by.

A National Weather Service investigation Sunday determined an EF0 tornado touched down in rural Nicollet County. EF0 is the weakest rating with wind speeds of 65-85 mph.

The tornado carved a 125-yard-wide path as it spun 2.5 miles from 3 miles east northeast of Judson to 3 miles west of North Mankato near Judson Bottom Road.

The twister damaged numerous trees and cornstalks. But there were no known injuries and the Lindsay machine shed was the only structure known to be damaged, according to the Weather Service announcement.

"We're so lucky it didn't do any damage to our houses," Loren Lindsay said Monday.

Loren owns the shed that lost part of its metal roof. A panel was found wrapped around a neighbor's tree. Another portion was found around a quarter mile in a cornfield.

None of the tractors or other farm equipment in the shed was damaged, said Loren, who wasn't home when the twister struck. The century-old sawmill that the brothers still use in an adjacent outbuilding also was untouched.

The farmer who rents the Lindsay fields to grow corn was not so lucky. The damage isn't covered by insurance, Loren said his renter told him.

In addition to the tornado, strong storm winds caused widespread tree damage across the Mankato region and overturned boats on Madison Lake.

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