This metal building behind the Automotive Center on First Street collapsed in the storm. 
Vehicles parked outside Minneota Storage were partially submerged after a heavy downpour on Wednesday.A machine shed roof was caught in a tree at a farm just outside of Minneota.

Storms leave path of destruction

Heavy rains cause flooding, high winds wreak havoc on many buildings, trees

Like a boxing match, Minneota endured round after round of intense weather on Wednesday and Thursday.
Straight-line winds raging from 70-90 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service, and heavy rains left devastation behind in the aftermath.
Power went out in most of the city around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and some residents were still without power into Saturday.
Like the eye of a hurricane, the storms would settle down momentarily before another wave hit.
In Minneota, several large trees were felled, machine sheds and other small farm buildings were blown away or severely damaged, streets and fields were flooded, many residents reported water in their basements, and branches were splattered everywhere.
Ghent Fire Chief Corey Crowley said there were trees down in that town, including one that knocked out a transformer on McQuestion Street that left most residents without power for an hour. Some outlying areas of Ghent were still without power through parts of Friday.
"All in all, we panned out pretty well," Crowley said. "I'm sure there was some damage that we didn't hear about, but we didn't get hit as hard as Minneota. We sent some workers over to Minneota to help out (Thursday) there."
Two semis, one on Highway 68 and one on County Road 8, were blown off the road and rolled into the ditch. One of the drivers suffered minor injuries.
Although no tornadoes were reported, conditions were ripe for one to emerge from a large shelf cloud that passed through. Straight-line winds can produce as much damage as an EF1 tornado can.
The high winds sent several residents scurrying to the basement.
"I was so scared," said one woman who requested anonymity. "I could hear cracking noises outside and I thought all the trees were coming down. I spent the whole night in my basement."In Taunton, some trees were down, a few metal buildings were damaged, as well as many branches were seen lying on the ground throughout town. Shingles were also torn off some houses.
It was reported that Porter received no structural damage or injuries, although several trees and branches were down all over town.
"There were about a dozen large trees downed throughout town," said Josh Sumption of Porter. "Some narrowly missed homes by inches, so cleanup has been in progress."
The aftermath of the storm, including a power outage, left administrators no choice but to call school off on Friday, something that is almost unheard of in the spring.
"School has never had to be called off because of weather in the spring since I've been here," said Superintendent Dan Deitte. "I talked to some school board members and to Chief (Bill) Bolt and after that, it was decided to call school off on Friday.”
Deitte explained that there were several determining factors in the decision to close school.
"We didn't have power at the time I made the decision, so we weren't sure when that would be back on," he said. "We knew some homes had roof damage and trees down and that the kids and staff members might be needed at home to help clean up. We weren't sure about the roof leaking at school. Also, we weren't sure if the buses would be able to get through everywhere either."
Seniors were done with school on Monday, while school is out Thursday, May 17 for all other students. Graduation is Saturday, May 21.
With power being out for many hours in some areas, sump pumps were unable to run and many homes had water in their basement because of it.
The wave of storms began on Wednesday with heavy rain amounting to 4.35 inches leaving fields, lawns, streets and parking lots flooded.
"We haven't had flooding like this since I came here in 2014," said Chief Bolt. "Manhole covers were forced off by water pressure. Our system just couldn't handle that volume of water."
Thursday's storm didn't bring a lot of rain, only around 1/2 inch, but the wind did severe damage.
A large metal building behind the Auto Center was toppled. Sections of roofs were damaged at Minneota Building Center and several turkey barns. Many houses had roof damage or lost shingles.
Ottertail Power workers removed downed power line from roads and worked tirelessly throughout the night to restore power to the Lincoln and Lyon County customers. The last of the work was completed on Sunday afternoon.
City workers were also being praised for their efforts in removing trees from roads, assisting in flooded areas, helping homeowners and much more.
A hog barn owned by Brandon Peterson outside of Minneota that was ripped apart and carried off by the high winds was captured by his security camera and the video can be seen on Facebook.
"We found the roof in a field a mile away," Peterson said. "Luckily, there were no hogs in it at the time."
Branches and limbs of all sizes were seen on every street and lawn in and around Minneota.
"I might be picking up sticks all summer," joked Gail Perrizo.
The Yellow Medicine River overflowed its banks and left Riverside Park in Minneota flooded. Countryside Golf Club was also flooded in several areas.
The weather turned warm and sunny over the weekend, which assisted in drying things up a little and allowing homeowners to clean up the mess on their property.

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