CHISAGO COUNTY, Minn. — Just a day ago at the Graske family's home along West Rush Lake, landscaping had kept them busy.
"It just goes to show you never know what the next day might bring you," said Bob Graske as chainsaws hummed throughout his neighborhood, which seemed to have gotten the brunt of Friday's storm.
Bob, his wife Diane, and their son had spent the morning working with their neighbors to clear their road of downed trees.
By afternoon, the work was focused on clearing their backyard, where nearly every tree was down. Bob had left his truck there the day before while working on landscaping.
"And now it's supporting a tree," he said.
Diane recalls hearing the storm barrel toward them the night before.
"All of a sudden, it just sounded like a train," she said. "I just took my pillow, and put it over my face, and just prayed."
The storm also flipped the Graske's pontoon and brought in another.
"We're trying to figure out where that came from," Bob said.
Several boats were flipped on the lake, including two in front of the resort where Darren Melland and his family were staying in their RV.
"The wind caught those boat lifts just right and flipped them out into the bay," Melland said.
Melland and his family decided to leave the RV early Saturday morning and drive to his daughter's home nearby for better shelter. After they left, Melland said the storm quickly got worse. A tree fell on his truck during their drive, likely totaling the truck.
"I'm just trying to get people out and the tree comes down. We had glass come right through. We had a lot of glass come through on my wife's side. She had a little bit of abrasions," he said. "There's always another truck. Everybody's safe."
People in the area said they lost power during the storms, but got it back on Saturday.
