MANKATO — A late-night thunderstorm Tuesday damaged the roof of a Mankato business and left some parts of North Mankato without power for a short time.
Downed trees fell on a power line, leaving lower North Mankato without electricity for about a half hour, Police Chief Chris Boyer said.
A billboard above Spinners Bar was destroyed by strong winds. Crews worked Wednesday morning to clear branches off the city’s streets.
The storm, which passed through at about 11:30 p.m., tore off the roof of Cleary Corp. on Loren Drive near Highway 169 and Highway 60. The owner of the property, Rich Reichel, said a 48-by-48 inch window was blown out of his nearby insulation business. Reichel and his family, who live upstairs, were not injured.
Part of the copper roof on Bethany Lutheran College’s chapel was slightly damaged when a tree fell on the building.
Free Press readers left Facebook messages about cars struck by a downed tree, streets littered with branches and a wooden swing set knocked down by the storm’s winds.
In Faribault County, a lightning strike destroyed an old barn near Elmore. The city of Wells experienced spotty power outages.
KEYC TV reported high winds of up to 68 mph in the city of Blue Earth.
The storm dropped from .13 to one-half inch of rain in the Mankato-North Mankato-St. Peter area.
In Rochester the storm knocked down trees and ignited a house fire. Officials say the house was struck by lightning early Wednesday, which started a fire in the attic. All occupants evacuated safely.
Winds blew dozens of tree branches onto power lines, cutting service to thousands of Rochester residents.
The storm generated wind gusts from 60-75 mph in the region as well as large hail in Winona County.
Winds also knocked down a 440-foot transmitter tower in Austin. The Austin Daily Herald reports KSMQ-TV could be off the air for as long as two weeks.
Calm weather is forecast for the Mankato region today and scattered showers are expected Friday.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.
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