Residents take in the damage

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 2, 2001

GLENVILLE – Stan Bremseth was about to convene a 7 p.

Wednesday, May 02, 2001

GLENVILLE – Stan Bremseth was about to convene a 7 p.m. meeting of the Glenville Boosters Tuesday at the American Legion hall when the town’s tornado sirens started wailing.

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&uot;We knew about the storm forecast. When the sirens went off, we headed for the cooler but it was already over us,&uot; Bremseth said. &uot;We just got lucky it didn’t pick the Legion building.&uot;

Bremseth’s downtown business, Stan’s Market, was spared by the tornado, but some of his neighbors on Main Street weren’t so fortunate. At least four businesses suffered total losses, including a pair of flattened grain bins at the Speltz elevator, a two-stall car wash and a three-story brick storage building that used to be an appliance store. Most structures suffered varying degrees of roof and window damage.

Freeborn County Deputy Tom Weigel watched the tornado develop near the Iowa state line at Interstate 35 a little before 7 p.m.. After it touched down on Glenville’s west end, he followed it across Freeborn County to the Mower County line, heading toward Oakland.

&uot;It was the biggest funnel I’ve ever seen, and we watched it all the way,&uot; Weigel said. &uot;It just hurt to see it go through Glenville like that.&uot;

Jesse Espinosa was watching the storm with relatives when the tornado hit Glenville Tuesday night.

&uot;We were standing outside, looking at the rain and the hail, and we looked up at the sky and saw the funnel,&uot; he said. &uot;Then it started getting smaller and smaller.&uot;

&uot;That’s when we decided to go to the basement.&uot;

The tornado caught many by surprise.

&uot;It was right now,&uot; said a deputy who saw the tornado develop. &uot;It just basically just came out of nowhere.&uot;

The funnel touched down on the western edge of town, and followed Main Street across town and on east toward Oakland, deputies said.

&uot;It seemed to have a significant size to it, and spotters said it appeared to have a second funnel associated with it,&uot; said Albert Lea Assistant Police Chief Dwaine Winkels.

The damage

After the tornado passed, residents came out of their houses and started to pick up the debris, said Glenville resident Arthur Hill. With neighbors, he pulled shingles and a garbage dumpster off the road.

The storm flattened the grain bins, toppled Dick Severson’s garage building onto its side and damaged several other businesses and homes. An old hardware store was reduced to rubble. The Glenville-Emmons elementary school playground was ripped up, one observer said.

Though a handful of buildings and homes on Glenville’s main street had minor damage, others were in ruins. Citizen’s State Bank was almost untouched while the car wash next door was unrecognizable.

&uot;Tornadoes seem to pick and chose what to destroy,&uot; Weigel said. &uot;There’s really no rhyme or reason to it.&uot;

Bob Knutson is certain his store was damaged beyond repair. The ceiling at his business, Knutson Oil Company, was falling in, he said, as he retrieved computers and records after the storm. He was afraid rain, which fell overnight, would destroy what was left of his office’s interior.

&uot;We’re trying to get some plastic over the place right now,&uot; Knutson said. &uot;We’ll be looking for a new location for awhile, but at least we’ll still be in business.&uot;

A tree branch had broken through Hill’s bedroom window. Part of one family’s roof had been torn off and their garage destroyed, Espinosa said.

&uot;We’ve got everybody’s garbage in our yard,&uot; said Donna Delger.

Glenville Mayor Wes Webb stood among the rubble that was once the shop area of his mobile communications business, Com-Tec.

&uot;Somehow we’ll put things back together and move on. Our community is fortunate we didn’t lose any lives,&uot; Webb said.

Along Highway 13, the tornado blew railroad cars down the tracks, knocked over several utility poles and sent large trees crashing to the ground.

Winkels said he heard of at least one rural farmhouse destroyed by the tornado.

Help arrives

Glen Ausen, a volunteer firefighter from Hartland, said he spent much of the night patrolling the neighborhoods. Many people, prompted by concern for neighbors, were wandering the streets seeking information.

&uot;We tell them to go back home,&uot; Ausen said. &uot;We need to get this situation firmly under control. It wasn’t easy because we didn’t have a lot of answers for them.

Volunteers set up a command post at the Glenville-Emmons High School building, where school district employees served a lunch to anyone who wandered in. The desserts, crackers, cheese and meat trays were originally intended for a fine art banquet that night, said director Paula Olson.

&uot;It’s being put to good use,&uot; Olson said.

The Hy-Vee grocery store also donated sandwiches to the town, Midwest Wireless brought telephones, and charitable organizations were on the scene to help in any way they could.

Volunteers worked by floodlight while they waited for electricity to be restored to the town. Salvation Army Major David Logan arranged to feed the firefighters and other volunteers. Red Cross volunteers brought blankets and comfort kits, and set up cots supplied by the National Guard, which sent 35 soldiers. Radio Emergency Assistance Citizen Team (REACT) members stood by, and Freeborn County Public Health Employees assisted people at the command center.

The Red Cross still needs donations of teddy bears for kids, personal care and other items, said Volunteer Leland Johnson. Call the Red Cross office at 373-4544 or stop at their offices at 135 East William St. to find out what is needed.

&uot;Any type of donations would be helpful,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;Because what is not needed here, we can always store for next time. And you never know when the next time is going to be.&uot;

Ausen was impressed by the cooperation of law enforcement and firefighting personnel.

&uot;I really feel for Glenville. Helping out here is a great experience,&uot; Ausen said. &uot;If this ever happens to Hartland, I know what kind of support we would get. It’s very comforting.&uot;