Wind gusts up to 116 mph uprooted huge trees, snapped power poles and stripped huge chunks off airport hangar roofs around 5 p.m. Thursday in Crookston, Minn.
Several homes were damaged, including one farm house roof completely ripped off, said Sgt. Dan Chapa of the Polk County Sheriff 's Department.
No one was injured during the storm, Chapa said.
Several areas were without power late Thursday night, Chapa said, after 20 minutes of hurricane-force winds pushed over power poles in both Crookston and just south of East Grand Forks, Minn.
A few farm outbuildings were either severely damaged or destroyed, Chapa said.
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Several buildings at the Crookston Airport were damaged, and Chapa said nearly half of one building's roof was stripped off.
WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks, N.D., reported that every traffic light in Crookston went out for about 30 minutes.
A tornado warning was issued around 5 p.m. for southeastern Grand Forks County, said Brad Hopkins, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Grand Forks.
The winds also caused a semi-trailer to tip over around 5 p.m. near Thompson, N.D.
The unloaded semi-trailer was traveling south on Interstate 29 about 1 mile north of Thompson, in Grand Forks County, when it tipped over and slid into the median, the North Dakota Highway Patrol said.
The driver, Shawn Donarski of Stephen, Minn., wasn't injured, the patrol said. The patrol said the semi trailer sustained $30,000 in damages. Hopkins said there was tree damage near the I-29 Thompson exit and estimated wind speeds of 50 to 60 mph around 5 p.m.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Joe Whetham at (701) 241-5557
