FARMINGTON, Minn. - Mother Nature works in strange ways.
How else can you explain why the tree Will Herold planted in his yard at the County View Mobile Home Park in Farmington 40 years ago ended up crushing his trailer early Tuesday.
Herold and his brother were sleeping when they were rudely awakened around 4:30 a.m. by the huge tree crashing through the roof of their home. The men found themselves trapped and were forced to crawl out the jagged opening created by the tree.
Both men suffered bumps and bruises and plan to be checked out at the hospital.
The tree that fell on Herold's trailer was among dozens that were ripped from the ground at the mobile home park by wind gusts topping 80 miles per hour. Two other trailers were damaged by trees that fell on their roofs, and a handful of cars also had trees topple on them.
Significant rain that has fallen in recent days left the ground saturated and unable to hold the root systems of the trees in place.
Residents of the mobile home park tell KARE 11 that sirens did not sound before the powerful storm hit.
Dakota County is the epicenter of damage from Tuesday's storm event. The cities of Farmington, Hastings, Lakeville, South St. Paul and West St. Paul and all report extensive impact from the storm with trees down and homes and cars damaged.
At the Lakeville Airport those strong winds damaged small aircraft, including two planes that were stacked on top of each other.
At the height of the storm more than 72,000 Xcel Energy customers were without power. Many of those live along Pilot Knob Road in Apple Valley where the winds knocked down or snapped a line of 14 power poles. Dakota County emergency coordinators say it could be until Wednesday until the stretch of Pilot Knob Road between County Road 42 and County Road 46 is reopened.
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