Suspected tornado rips through lakes property

LAKE LIDA, Minn. - Lola Keller finished remodeling her cabin on Lake Lida about two months ago.

Thursday afternoon, it took moments for what was likely a tornado to make the home a shambles.

Keller and her daughter, Kayla, 17, survived by running to a neighbor's house when, through a heavy rain, they saw a dark, watery shape moving across the lake toward their cabin about 2:20 p.m.

The neighbor, Sharon Thompson, wasn't aware of the threat, but alerted by her neighbors, she and the Kellers hustled into the lower level of Thompson's home just as it was hit by a tremendous blast.

Kathi Hindrichs, a friend who helped Thompson clean up after the storm, said she has a home on nearby Crystal Lake, which was also hit by bad weather.

"I got a little hail. Looks like Sharon got the worst of it," Hindrichs said.

Down the beach from Thompson's home, Dave Klug, his wife, Kathy, and their children, Lindsey, 13, and Jason, 11, stepped among shattered trees and surveyed the ruins of their lake home, which was missing many of its walls and much of its roof.

Dave Klug said he saw something dark and frightening on the lake and herded his family into a neighbor's basement.

They no sooner made it inside when "the trees started going by," he said.

Family members said it happened so quickly that they hadn't had time to absorb the event.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," Lindsey Klug said.

Otter Tail County Sheriff Brian Schlueter said several people reported seeing a twister cross the lake, and he said it's likely a tornado destroyed the Klugs' home and others on the north shore of Lake Lida.

The tornado apparently hopped about a bit, also touching down farther north on land adjacent to Crystal Lake, said Schlueter, who said he didn't know the exact number of homes affected.

Many trees and boats were also damaged or destroyed, but that appeared to be the extent of the havoc, Schlueter said.

"I'm thankful no one was killed, or even injured," he said.

Schlueter said the storm that roared through the lakes area had been followed by deputies who tracked it from outside Elizabeth, where a tornado briefly touched down without causing damage.

Insurance adjusters were on the scene shortly after the storm, but it will be some time before the damage can be fully evaluated, said Dave Lontz, an adjuster for State Farm Insurance who did a walk-through of Thompson's home Thursday afternoon.

"It's not like a fire; there's a lot of hidden damage you don't know about," he said.

Given the concentrated nature of the storm damage, Lontz said a tornado was likely to blame.

"I'm almost certain," he said.

Schlueter said the storm came and went quickly.

"It just goes to show, when those warnings are put out, you need to take them serious.

"Unfortunately, a lot of lake homes don't have basements. So, you need a storm plan, because you don't have time to think about it," Schlueter said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555