‘A war zone’: Weather Service confirms EF1 tornado near Twin Lakes, Emmons

Dawn Burgett and her family had just finished their back-to-school shopping in Albert Lea Monday night when they started listening to KATE Radio and then heard the tornado sirens sound.

As they drove back to their house southwest of Bear Lake on 670th Avenue, they heard talk about possible activity southeast of Mansfield Township and knew it was getting too close for comfort.

As they came south down 670th Avenue, she said they saw their son on the deck of his house with his phone in his hand across the street from their own property. He had photographed the tornado that ultimately struck his parents’ property.

From the road it didn’t look like there had been any damage but as they traveled down the long driveway and then came closer to the house, they encountered a different story.

“We got up into our yard, and we had a war zone,” she said.

They found numerous downed branches and snapped trees, damage to the pasture fencing, downed power lines and some damage to their barn. A livestock trailer was flipped upside down and dragged several feet.

Despite the damage around them, their house, from initial studies, did not appear to be damaged.

The National Weather Service Tuesday afternoon confirmed the tornado was an EF1 that hit the Twin Lakes and Emmons area, reaching speeds of 105 mph and traveling 6.6 miles.

The tornado was a part of several preliminary reports of tornadoes in south-central Minnesota Monday night. The reports come after the Weather Service Monday first issued a tornado watch for much of the area, followed by tornado warnings. The tornado warning sirens sounded four times in Freeborn County.

Tornado reports came in as early as about 5:30 p.m. northeast of St. James and west of La Salle, followed by a tornado three miles north of Winnebago at 6:30 p.m. Damage to trees was reported three miles west Easton on Highway 109 at 7:02 p.m.

About 30 minutes later, flash flooding in Wells was reported at about 7:30 p.m., followed by reports of a tornado one mile south of Wells at 7:32 p.m. and a funnel cloud about 50 feet off the ground two miles north of Alden.

At 7:59 p.m., a tornado was reported four miles south of Conger with another reported three miles northwest of Emmons at 8:01 p.m.

Three reports of tornadoes came in south of Janesville east of Pemberton.

As of press time, the Weather Service had also confirmed an EF1 tornado near St. James in Watonwan County, an EF1 tornado near Janesville in Blue Earth and Waseca counties and an EF1 tornado near Otisco south of Waseca.

Damage survey crews had examined four tornado tracks, but more are possible in the coming days as more information becomes available, the agency stated.

Burgett said immediately on Monday night they were surrounded by people wanting to help, describing it as an emotional time.

The family raises about 70 sheep, and all of the animals were accounted for.

On Tuesday people were also on hand at the Burgett property helping clean up debris and even dropping off food.

Burgett said she and her husband are the fifth-generation in the family to live there and this is the sixth tornado that has hit their property.

Bernice Mattson, who lives on 115th Street southeast of Bear Lake, said Monday night her son was on the highway near her neighbors on 690th Avenue, when he sent her husband, Randy, a photo of a tornado in the area he had gotten from someone else.

“Our son was watching it,” she said. “I heard him say on the speaker phone, ‘You better get down in the basement right now.’”

Mattson said she went into the basement, while her husband did not initially.

“It was directly in line for our home,” she said.

But instead of continuing on the ground, the tornado lifted into the sky over their home.

“I’m kind of in shock,” Mattson said. “I can’t imagine what people go through who get hit by tornadoes.”

Freeborn County Emergency Manager Rich Hall said as of Tuesday afternoon there were four addresses the Sheriff’s Office had been notified about that had received damages — the one at the Burgetts property, one on 120th Street and another on 125th Street.

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