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HARTLAND — Glenn and Karen Ausen were at a family get-together in Faribault Wednesday afternoon when they started getting messages that a tornado had struck their farm.

The couple, who has lived on the farm northeast of Hartland for 38 of their 45 years of marriage, immediately headed home.

As they drove home, Glenn Ausen said, they received phone calls from people who were standing in their yard and telling them of the damage.

“I had a picture in my mind of what to expect — what things looked like — but it’s still a shock,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be good.”

As they approached their property at 70138 325th St. from the east, the damage came into view and they discovered three of their machine sheds were badly damaged and debris was thrown many feet into the nearby fields. They are not sure yet of the level of damage to their farm equipment that was in the sheds, as they wait for their insurance adjuster to arrive to survey the damage.

Karen Ausen said the main concern she had as they approached the property was for her chickens and farm cats. Luckily, all were accounted for, and the structure that houses the chickens was untouched.

The National Weather Service received seven reports of tornadoes Wednesday evening, including reports southwest of Alden, near Freeborn, both west and northeast of Hartland and another southwest of Ellendale.

Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea said the property northeast of Hartland was the only property with structural damage from Wednesday’s storms, though there was a report of trailers that were moved and trees damaged west of Hartland at a property near the intersection of Freeborn County Roads 33 and 67. Some corn was also downed near the intersection.

Though they already have in mind who will help bring down the damaged sheds, Glenn Ausen said his biggest worry is being able to clean the fields from the debris. He said they may need volunteers to help walk the fields — he estimated debris in 40 to 45 acres.

Despite the damage to some of their outbuildings, neither the grain bins at the property nor their home were significantly damaged.

“We are so blessed,” Karen Ausen said. “We were able to stay there last night and not have to go to a hotel.”

She said though the Hartland tornado from 2021 was “darn close” to their property, up until this week they had never had a tornado impact their property.

At this point, there are still many unknowns about their future, as they await more information about the extent of the damage. The couple is nearing retirement age and will ultimately need to decide the future of the farm.