By Jolene Farley
A storm traveled through the area early Saturday morning damaging buildings and trees on several farm places northeast of Beaver Creek.
Bob Beyenhof was awakened at about 3 a.m. when one of his bins landed on the roof of his attached garage. "I jumped right out of bed," said Beyenhof. "I could feel the whole house shaking."
Delmar DeVries watched the storm from his bedroom window. "I heard it coming," he said. "It was one big racket, here and then gone."
It sounded like a railroad train coming through, according to DeVries and his wife, Marlys. The couple said every drain in their house was gurgling.
They said sparks flew when a piece of their cattle shed roof flew into overhead electrical lines, cutting off power. The storm left their greenhouse severely damaged and debris scattered in their yard.
A cattle shed collapsed on the Orville Bork farm across the road from the DeVries place. Bork said he's fortunate no cattle were lost, since they were locked out of the shed because of the nicer weather. The shed was not insured.
A large tree that graced the entry to BorkÕs driveway was snapped in half by the force of the storm.
This is the second building Bork has lost in a month. In mid-March his machine shed collapsed from the weight of snow on the roof. He carried insurance for that building.
Damage was also reported at the Gary Top, Jim Van Santen and Frank Matus farms. Most hit by the storm spent the weekend cleaning up.
The storm carried strong straight-line winds, according to meteorologist Todd Heitkamp of the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.
In south and southwestern Rock County, winds were estimated at 67 to 75 mph with widespread rainfall of more than one inch in the area and higher amounts farther north near Watertown, S.D.
There was little damage in the city of Beaver Creek. Some signs blew down, and there was slight damage at the elevator, according to Lloyd DeBoer.