MERRIFIELD, N.D. - High winds during Friday morning's thunderstorms caused multiple grain bins to be torn off their foundations in Merrifield, N.D., 9 miles southwest of Grand Forks.
Five grain bins, owned by Dan Altepeter, were blown down and rolled into the road and a line of trees Friday morning. The bins had to be moved off of the road to allow vehicles through the area.
Roger Stone, who lives in a home behind the line of trees, said he heard a "screeching" noise, which he later learned were the bins breaking. Several of Stone's vehicles were stuck underneath the twisted up grain bins. If it had not been for the line of trees surrounding it, his mobile home could have sustained heavy damage, Stone said. Stone said he and his wife woke up around 4 a.m. to the weather report and got up to shut the windows so rain wouldn't get in, but shortly after heard the high winds.
"The weather report was right for a change," he said with a small chuckle.
Brittany Peterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said most damage was caused by high winds in the region.
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The region saw its highest wind speeds 4 miles northwest of Cooperstown, N.D., where wind speeds peaked at 96 mph.
The strongest reported winds in Grand Forks clocked in at 76 mph at the Grand Forks International Airport. She estimated wind speeds in the area to be 90 to 95 mph based on the damage reported there. It was the southwest edge of the storm's path that Peterson said appeared to have the most damage.
