5 Tornadoes Hit Minnesota; Buildings Destroyed In Several Towns

MINNESOTA — Five tornadoes were reported Monday across western Minnesota as part of widespread severe weather that destroyed buildings, uprooted trees and caused mass power outages.

The tornadoes started in the southwest corner of the state, according to the National Weather Service. The first two were spotted in Jasper and Trosky. They then moved north — hitting a farm in Milan, downing trees and rolling a pickup truck towing a trailer in Starbuck, and damaging a home in Forada, the weather service reported.

Images on social media showed extensive destruction in Forada, where upward of 75 buildings were damaged, according to the Star Tribune, which reported hotels in Alexandria were offering rooms to displaced residents.

Our weather spotters and viewers are taking pictures of storm damage on Maple Lake and in the Forada area.

We’re headed that way, but the storm is still crossing over 94. We’re leaving the St. Cloud area now.@kare11 https://t.co/39QHi6Yimi pic.twitter.com/DfmZTh7Me7
— Jennifer Hoff (@JennHoffReports) May 30, 2022

Structures were also damaged in Eagle Bend, where the Todd County Sheriff’s Office warned Monday that power lines were down and roads were impassable. Lowry and Starbuck saw golfball-sized hail, the Star Tribune reported.

At times, the storms moved 80 mph, according to AccuWeather’s Tony Laubach. As of mid-morning Tuesday, more than 36,000 customers were without power in Minnesota, according to PowerOutage.us.

The National Weather Service was sending teams Tuesday to survey damage in Douglas, Todd, Pope, Swift, Stevens, McLeod and Carver counties.

There were no known fatalities or serious injuries from the storms, according to the Star Tribune, which reported that buildings were destroyed in Deep River and that Hinckley had a citywide power outage.