MPR’s Laura McCallum reports on the clean-up effort underway in Monticello. A major storm front carved a 15-mile path of destruction through Wright County, downing trees and power lines.
On the afternoon of July 1, 1997, a complex of severe thunderstorms moved out of South Dakota, intensified, and caused significant damage from tornadoes, straight-line winds, and excessive rainfall— from western and central Minnesota through the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.
LAURA MCCALLUM: No one was hurt in the storm that blew through Monticello. But at Perkins Restaurant, the force of the straight line winds shattered windows and chandeliers crashed to the floor. Perkins was packed with customers when the emergency sirens went off.
Waitress Nikki Fox [? Norbaum, ?] says people were told to file into the kitchen and coolers to wait it out.
[? NIKKI FOX NORBAUM: ?] At first, people were a little upset that they had to go back there. But once they saw the windows blow in, they were pretty happy. And after that happened, people really did huddle down. I think a lot of people were really scared.
[CHAINSAW WHIRRING]
LAURA MCCALLUM: This was the most common sound in Monticello, as homeowners and maintenance crews began to tackle hundreds of uprooted trees, some looked as if a giant hand had yanked them by the branches, causing the sod to bubble up. As a crew removed trees blocking the parking lot of Perkins, Pat [? Flavin ?] says they'll have to come back to finish the cleanup job.
[? PAT FLAVIN: ?] We've got a lot of people with trees in their bedrooms and through their roofs, and we have to get back and get those people going, too. We just want to get all the dangerous stuff taken care of. And then we'll come back three or four days.
LAURA MCCALLUM: City officials are just starting to assess the storm's cost. Most businesses were closed today, many of them without power. City administrator Rick Wolfsteller says, Monticello doesn't appear to have a lot of major structural damage to buildings. Although, some homes lost, roofs and shingles are scattered around town.
Still, Wolfsteller says, he's never seen a storm so destructive in the 20 years he's lived in Monticello.
RICK WOLFSTELLER: Usually, you'll see some isolated damages in certain areas. But when I was out this morning surveying the community, it seems like the central core city and to the eastern end, I think only the western part of the community was really saved.
LAURA MCCALLUM: City officials meet tomorrow morning to discuss the cleanup effort, Wolfsteller says, they need to decide whether to cancel this weekend's Riverfest activities. Much of Riverfest takes place in River Park, where Wolfsteller says, about 75% of the trees have been lost.
In Collegeville. I'm Laura McCollum, Minnesota Public Radio news.
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