Minnesota Communities Sticking Together for Storm Damage Cleanup

Strong winds, heavy rain, and suspected tornadoes barreled through parts of western Minnesota last night.

But the community is coming to each other’s aid in both Gary and Ada.

The counties of Mahnomen, Polk and Norman are picking up the pieces after storms barreled through their communities.

The National Weather Service has given the Norman County storm a preliminary EF-2 Rating.

A roof blown off of a barn.

Inches of standing water after a torrential downpour.

Trees down all over the place.

This was the sight many near Ada and Gary woke up to Monday morning.

“Some interesting weather came through here last night, and my understanding is that it lasted for upwards of 2 hours straight,” Norman County Emergency Manager Garry Johanson explains.

After the last warning expired at around 1 AM, the impact left a community in shock.

But there was one good thing to come out of the rubble.

No one was killed…or even hurt.

“Thankfully, we were all in the house and everyone in my family was safe and the way it sounds everyone in town was safe too, so that’s the main thing,” Ada farmer Corey Jacobson.

The bad thing about these storms rolling through is that it’s tearing communities apart, like Ada, Fertile, and Gary, but the good thing is that it’s bringing neighbors together.

Kim Knutson, who lives in Gary, had some damage to her sheds but the house was fine.

She is thankful for all of the support from all of her neighbors.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it by myself,” Knutson explains.

And throughout these small towns, people are paying it forward.

“Some builders have been here, contractors have come out, neighbors say what can we do, what can we do,” Ada retiree Curtis Jacobson says.

Neighbors who show the true meaning of weathering the storm.

Both Knutson and the Jacobsons say they are in good spirits.

They say they are hoping to rebuild and make repairs once insurance companies finish their assessments.