Strong Winds Tear Off Roof In Edgerton, MN

EDGERTON, MN - Strong storms tore through southwestern Minnesota Thursday night uprooting trees and damaging buildings. The storm hit Edgerton around 5:30 p.m. taking down branches and entire trees, but did the most damage to the bowling alley.

A twisted metal roof had to be untangled at Mill Street Lanes in Edgerton after mother nature bowled into town with strong winds. 

"No words can describe what I saw it was basically out of the movie Twister," co-owner Chris Lammers said.

Lammers owns the bowling alley with his family and was outside when the roof was peeled back. 

"I was right to where the elevators were and I just saw the roof just basically fold over," Lammers said.

And when the roof came off it hit the power lines, knocking out electricity in the building.

"When we were driving up I saw all the sparks fly from our electrical wiring," co-owner Randy Lammers said.

Fortunately there is a second roof underneath the metal, so there's only minor water damage inside the bowling alley. But, trees and branches were also knocked down in the storm. Truckloads were already being hauled out of Edgerton shortly after the storm hit.

"Some fairly large trees where some damage was done, so it was powerful," Randy Lammers said.

"It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen in my life," Chris Lammers said.

And while it was powerful, the storm only lasted a short time, and the owners of the building are thankful for that.

"I was just glad it didn't last any longer than it did or there would have been a lot more damage that was done," Lammers said.

There were a few employees in the bowling alley at the time, but fortunately no one was hurt. The owners do have insurance and should be able to get the roof repaired quickly.