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Lightning hits FF downtown [UPDATED]
Published 11:10am Tuesday, May 31, 2011 Updated 11:52am Tuesday, May 31, 2011AP and Journal reports
A downtown building received damage on Monday night after being struck by lightning.
The building on 216 and 218 West Lincoln Ave., which houses Curl Up and Dye, Lake Country Graphics and a few apartments on the second floor, was hit by lightning at 9:45 p.m. Several bricks from the top of the building were knocked off, breaking the back window of a car parked in the street and bringing down an awning in front of the building.
Firefighters searched the building for any signs of a fire but only found some light smoke in one of the apartments from a cable TV wire that had arced.
In Ottertail City, a home at 119 Shores Road had its roof blown off during the night. The roof landed in the residence’s yard and on top of a detatched garage, causing building damage. No one was injured.
Strong storms Monday night knocked out power to an estimated 26,000 people in the Fargo area, along with hundreds more in rural areas.
No long-term power outages happened in Fergus Falls, but Otter Tail Power reported that power outages for a few seconds occurred in the city.
Otter Tail County was under a tornado watch, and sirens went off in the city after some unconfirmed reports of rotating clouds around the city. There were tornado warnings for counties around Otter Tail County, including Grant, and Dalton received hail during the night. Trees were also reported blowing over in Ottertail City.
The National Weather Service says the storms packed winds as strong as 70 mph.
