The Jamestown Sun
EDGELEY, N.D. -- The Lambert family lives less than a football field away from where its quonset used to be.
Heavy winds and hail passed through parts of LaMoure County around 10:30 p.m. Sunday damaging structures, trees and crops. Nature destroyed the building that stored the family's machinery and several vehicles, but left the Lambert's home and garden untouched.
The storm that passed through LaMoure County was similar to the storm that passed through Cass County, said John Wheeler, storm tracker meteorologist at WDAY TV. The damages to both counties were similar as well. Although the exact speed of the winds is unknown, Wheeler said it was reasonable to assume that the winds in LaMoure County reached the same speeds as the 70 to 90 mph winds in Cass County.
Joanne and her son Brock, 18, sought shelter in the basement. Joanne's husband, Steve, was a little more curious.
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"Like an idiot, I went upstairs to watch it," he said.
Steve watched the storm from a window, but said he couldn't see far because of the wind and rain. Once the windows and walls started vibrating, he said he headed for the basement too.
Steve didn't have to hide long, after five or 10 minutes most of the storm had passed, but not without taking some of the farm's property with it.
All that is left of the 48-by-120 quonset is a slab of concrete, some gravel and the remains of about 30 pieces of lumber.
The property inside the quonset was damaged as well. Three motorcycles, two snowmobiles, four vehicles, a tractor, two trucks and two semis were damaged. A combine and an additional tractor will need extensive repairs and tools and supplies were scattered along the ground, he said.
Neighbors helped combine the tools and supplies into 5-gallon buckets.
"Everything I own is on a pallet or in a bucket," Steve joked.
But a lot of work to the property has already been done, he said, more than 25 friends and neighbors worked from about 9:30 a.m. to around 5 p.m. Monday, stopping only for lunch. Neighbors were still dropping by Tuesday to lend a hand.
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Several LaMoure County residents sustained damage to their property, but none as extensive as what happened to the Lamberts' property, said LaMoure County Sheriff Robert Fernandes. Fernandes collected information so it could be sent to state officials.
"(The Lambert property was the) only property that looked like there was a tornado that went through it," Fernandes said.
The damages to his property made it difficult to sleep Sunday night -- Steve said he sat on his porch drinking coffee, waiting for enough light to work -- but he is OK now.
"I'm doing better today than I was yesterday," Steve said.
LaMoure County residents with property damage from Sunday's storm can call the LaMoure County Sheriff's Office at (701) 883-5301.
