A pair of storm systems packed with straight-line winds, hail and rain wreaked havoc everywhere as spring turned into summer
By Per Peterson
Robert Baumgartner didn’t get much sleep Sunday night, but it’s not because he’s suffering from insomnia.
Robert and his wife, Ardys, were camping in Garvin Park this Memorial Day Weekend when yet another powerful storm blew into the area. This one was once again packing strong winds, plenty of rain and enough thunder and lightning to keep even the most sound sleeper awake.
“I stayed up all night,” Baumgartner said. “It started sprinkling about 4 o’clock (in the morning), and my wife came out, and all of a sudden it was pouring. It shook the pick-up a little bit, so we drove up to the shelter. Then when we came back, we noticed all this.”
“All this” was a mess that included a huge tree that fell on top of the couple’s new camper — one of a number of trees that were felled from a massive storm that blew through southwest Minnesota on Sunday night and into Monday, this after an equally-strong storm besieged the area a day earlier.
The Baumgartners are from Pierre, SD, and visit the area about once a year.
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.