Although several inflatable inner tubes by the scenic Island Lake shoreline on Jeff Broman’s property did not move an inch during Tuesday night’s storm, about 15 large pine trees in his yard fell due to high winds - with four of them crashing down on the roof of his house.
Broman said the Tuesday night storm came on suddenly. He and his family rushed to their basement for safety.
“You just kept hearing snapping and popping of the branches,” Broman said. “When we tried to look out the window, it was just a grey mass of water.”
Deer River and the Island Lake area were hit hardest by Tuesday night’s storms, according to a news release from Minnesota Power. High winds blew trees into power lines in Deer River, where 617 customers were left without power; crews replaced seven to 10 power poles and 40 downed lines and expected to have power mostly restored in that area by 6 p.m. Wednesday. The company noted that power to some some individual homes might take until Thursday to restore, and those homes might require the services of skilled electricians.
The storm also left 310 customers in the Island Lake area and Gnesen Township without power Wednesday, the news release stated. About 100 affected customers in that area had power restored by Wednesday afternoon.
According to a news release from Lake Country Power, 9,000 customers regained power by 4 p.m. Wednesday, while about 900 were still without power. Remote areas near Ball Club, Deer River, Deer Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish could go without power until sometime this morning, the news release stated.
The Salvation Army and American Red Cross will have have food, water, ice and information available at Deer River High School throughout Thursday, according to Itasca County Sheriff Vic Williams. The Itasca County Crisis Response Team will have a representative available at Deer River High School from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Deer River Bible Church will be serving pizza after 4 p.m.
Deputies from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, along with members of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, Minnesota State Patrol and volunteers from Gnesen and Rice Lake fire departments responded to the Island Lake area and conducted a door-to-door search of cabins and homes.
No injuries were reported, but they reported many roads and driveways blocked and extensive damage to buildings.
Mark Johnson, who has lived in the Island Lake area for about 20 years, said Tuesday night’s storm was the worst he has seen in the area. He said he was closing windows in his house around 7:30 p.m. when he heard a loud crash. A tree fell on the house and broke through the ceiling in one of the bedrooms, he said.
The hole in his roof was not the only damage, he said. Johnson’s new pontoon, which he said he had barely used, upended in the lake along with its lift during the storm.
“Kind of a bummer,” he said.
Alan Johns, Johnson’s neighbor, said despite the downed trees and powerlines, his property escaped the storm relatively unscathed. The two large pine trees that fell in his backyard barely missed the porch, newly planted trees and garden. The porch railing broke as did a swing on one of the fallen trees. He said he was lucky.
“They fell just so they missed the house,” he said. “It was pretty scary. … I thought at any minute one of those windows were going to break.”
With all the downed trees blocking roads and driveways, Johns said he was surprised to find the daily newspaper in his mailbox yesterday morning.
Clayton Hollinday, a Duluth News Tribune paper carrier, said he trudged through brush and downed trees to deliver Island Lake’s Wednesday morning newspapers.
“Even though they couldn’t get out, they got their papers,” Hollinday said.
Hollinday said delivery took longer than usual with most of the roads reduced to one lane - if traffic could get through at all - due to the number of fallen trees.
“So many trees … the root systems were just enormous,” Hollinday said. “If you were planning on building a log cabin, if you hurried up there, you would have some good logs.”
Broman said his house’s rafters and roof took the most damage from the four downed trees. His daughter’s playhouse, which she refers to as the “cobweb school,” was flipped over by strong winds. The playhouse was a renovated outhouse left over from when his father built and owned the house, he said.
Broman said he is more upset about the destroyed items of sentimental value than about the roof damage. The fallen red and white pine trees were on the property during his father’s era, he said.
“We’ll never see the trees this big again,” Broman said. “It still is beautiful. We’re just missing some of the beauty.”
Although the trees held sentimental value for Broman, he said he is just glad no one was hurt. After assessing the damage, he said he and his neighbors shifted their focus to what they can do to clear the area.
“We’re just trying to all pitch together with our chainsaws and clean up,” he said.
The St. Louis County Assessor’s Office said in a news release that it will send staff to assess the severity of damage to individual properties next week. Damage to structures may affect the assessed value of the property, which means the owner may be eligible for a tax credit or abatement.
