Following the first wave of rain, hail and high winds last Saturday, Caroline Lester and her daughter, Lisa Pearson, thanked people checking on their welfare at the Staples Coast True Value store. The wind storm ripped off a large chuck of the store’s roof around 5:30 p.m. This piece landed in the eastbound lanes of Highway 10. The Staples Fire Department was dispatched about 5:30 p.m. between storm bursts to remove the roof debris from the highway. Several 2x4 spears pierced the roof line, as helpers (above) on top of the building surveyed the damage. No one was injured as the store workers huddled under the office portion inside the building. The damage occurred 15 days after owners Dave and Carolyn Lester re-opened the hardware store and one month to the day after the EF-4 tornado struck Wadena. (Staples World photo by Janice Winter) Winds of over 70 miles per hour blew through the Staples area Saturday evening, July 17, causing over 100 trees to be downed or damaged, roof damage to a few buildings and other problems in Staples.

Emergency sirens were activated in Staples and surrounding areas as the area was under two separate tornado warnings. An initial warning came through just after 5 p.m. for southern Wadena County, including Staples. A second tornado warning shortly before 7 p.m. included an area from south of Staples to south of Pillager.

The city’s emergency sirens blared their warnings as the sky turned dark green and then blackened. Strong winds began to blow throughout much of Todd, Wadena, Morrison and southern Cass counties.

In Staples, Police Chief Kyle Huber responded as the Emergency Manager to direct operations during and after the storm. Police and fire personnel assisted with putting signs back up, watching for more storms and traffic control. Huber said they sounded the tornado sirens on four different times as severe weather was approaching.

City of Staples Parks Department employees worked from dawn until dusk last Sunday, cleaning up trees that fell during a severe thunderstorm the night before. Pictured above, in Northern Pacific Park, Staples, are Nathan Warner (left) and Parks Supervisor Kevin Grondahl. Grondahl reported that a few trees went down in NPP (including the large oak, pictured at right); many at Dower Lake Campsite; and at least 15 trees were lost at Pine Grove Park in Staples. (Staples World photos by Dawn Timbs) The Staples street department workers were called out to remove trees and other damage from city streets.

Staples electric utility and Todd Wadena Electric crews responded to repair multiple power outages and damage to lines. A twoman Staples crew worked just short of 24 hours getting power restored and cleaning debris from electric lines from about 6:30 Saturday evening to the same time Sunday evening.

Lead city Lineman John Cole said power was out at several different locations around town. There was no one large neighborhood without power, he said. Huber said there were no reports of any injuries.

Staples Parks Department employee Nathan Warner reported that, when the warnings sounded, city crews went to Dower Lake to usher campers to safety. Following their emergency procedures, campers were directed to the Lakewood Health System Care Center.

“We sent some of them to the care center and we got some others to seek shelter in the bathrooms at Dower,” Warner said.

Sunday was anything but a day of rest for many Staples Parks Department employees and other city workers.

“We started working around seven this morning,” Warner said at Northern Pacific Park, where he was working with Parks Supervisor Kevin Grondahl clearing trees. “We’ve been at it all day and I’m sure it’s going to be a busy week.”

Trees were down in all of the city’s parks.

“Pine Grove is a mess... at least 15 to 20 trees went down there,” said Grondahl. “We lost 15 - 20 trees at Dower Lake, too and a few here at Northern Pacific Park,” he added. A large tree was up-rooted at the future Veteran’s Park in Staples.

The same was true for many Staples residents, who were busy cleaning up on Sunday and on Monday .

At 301 Dakota Avenue South, Larry Schmidt (along with family and friends) spent the day cleaning up the yard of his rental property.

“This is load number three,” Schmidt said, adding another shovelful to the trailer’s growing pile. A steady stream of trucks and trailers were busy Sunday and Monday hauling debris to the city’s tree disposal pile near the waste water treatment site.

Schmidt’s daughter, Diane Poppenga, said her family had lost part of a shed during the storm, in addition to the trees.

Pete Parsons, Staples, was helping with clean-up efforts at Schmidt’s place. He recalled looking outside when the sirens first sounded.

“You could see the clouds

spinning above,” Parsons

said of Saturday’s storm. “It sure looked to me like a

tornado.”

During the storm, a large chunk of the Coast True Value store’s roof was picked up and hurled across their parking lot, across the four lanes of Highway 10 and onto the chain link fence on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe property. Nails and sharp edges of boards were scattered all along the way.

A large tree was reported to have landed on top of a car parked at the curb on the 200 block of Sixth Street Northeast.

Staples police reported one homeowner called for help after nearly getting hurt. The owner said he tried to pull a tree off of a power line by tying a tow rope and pulling with his pickup. The rope broke, and snapped into his rear window, breaking it and hitting him in the back of the head. The city utility crew came and removed the tree from the power line before any more injuries could take place.

Todd and Wadena County sheriff’s deputies and other weather spotters were sent out at different times during the day Saturday as severe weather passed through the area. Various reports were received of tornado funnels forming, but no touchdowns were verified. Hail from pea to baseball size was reported at various locations. Deputies reported hail and wind damage to crops, also at various locations