It got a little hairy Monday at midnight when a 65-foot Norway pine was sucked out of the ground at Jerry and Ann Charley's place.
Their fear turned to relief when they saw the tree neatly lined up near the house on Hay Creek Drive, nine miles north of Park Rapids.
It did no damage.
Down the road, Ruby Hensel said "a heck of a wind" took the roof off her pole barn and tossed it 200 yards, over her house and van, down on the banks of Hay Creek. One of the sturdy wooden posts snapped three feet off the ground.
"It could have landed on the house!" the 89-year-old said Tuesday.
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Jerry Charley believes it was a microburst that sent driving rain and high winds through the neighborhood.
The Charleys lost several trees, as did the Hensels.
"It was pretty scary," Ann Charley admitted.
Downed trees were a common sight throughout Hubbard County, but the Hay Creek neighborhood appeared to have suffered the brunt of the storm that dumped up to 2½ inches of rain overnight.
Rainfall totals were spotty. Near County 18, residents there reported an inch-and-a-half. More rainfall amounts were re-ported further northeast.
The National Weather Service reported an inch of rain at the Park Rapids airport overnight.
And in a volatile summer, one more neighborhood is experiencing the sounds of chain saws cleaning up.
