I'd say it is a bit unusual to have to field phone calls from well wishers on two nationally reported events within 9-months (I-35W Bridge last August), but here we are again, and a quite a bit closer to home. As most of you know, if you have been watching television in the last 24 hours, our town was hit by a devastating tornado. Many have called or emailed us but I just want everyone to know we were not home but over a hundred miles away up north at the lake.
The neighborhood in which the tornado went through was about 29 blocks to the north of us, but the damage is more widespread. When we came from the north on 35-E we saw a farm in Lino Lakes which had it's silos torn apart and strewn up to the interstate. As we came into town we saw windows tarped and siding with large holes where the baseball sized hail just pummeled everything. Hwy 61 to the north is closed off which means no Subway, Carpenter's Steak House, or Blacksmith Lounge for a while.
None of this compares to what those in the 159th street area lost. Silos, siding, and windows can be replaced but a lot of people lost their homes, memories, and for one couple, their two-year-old son. It really hits home not that it was our town that got hit, but that the boy was about E's age.
Our house escaped with little damage. A few screens will need to be replaced as they now have large holes, and our siding needs to be fixed as it has chips and fractures. Just a few blocks to the north the damage is more intense as you can't miss the holes in the siding and broken windows. To the east, in a small Lino Lakes neighborhood every house has holes in the siding like swiss cheese. It is unbelievable, and again, we are very fortunate. Our prayers and thoughts are with those in the areas most affected, as they are our neighbors in a very, very close sense of the word.