A massive storm that tore through the heart of Minnesota's lake country forced some of the state's most popular resorts and campgrounds to shut down Monday at the height of vacation season.
Downed trees crashed into cabins, crushed campers, blocked roads and knocked out power lines.
Winds that hit 70 miles per hour blew into the area Sunday night along a swath that was 8 miles long and 3 miles wide from Gull Lake to Lake Hubert, forcing hundreds of campers and resort guests to evacuate and the owners of Madden's On Gull Lake and Cragun's Resort to shut down for cleanup.
Cragun's, which was left without power on Monday, evacuated 600 guests and expects to reopen in about a week. Madden's on Gull Lake, which evacuated 300 guests to a storm shelter on Sunday, is likely to remain closed for two weeks.
"Our golf courses and the resort took a hit," said Kathy Reichenbach, Madden's marketing director. The storm, which damaged some resort buildings and felled many trees, was one of the worst that Reichenbach has seen in the 34 years she's worked at the resort.
About 8,000 properties lost power Sunday night. And by Monday, 6,000 customers were still without power.
The biggest obstacle is removing all of the large trees that have fallen and broken an estimated 100 power poles, which all need to be removed and replaced, according to Minnesota Power, which recruited workers from the Twin Cities to help with the storm cleanup. The number of broken power poles could grow as they continue to assess the damage. But the power company expects to have power restored in the area by Thursday.
Mark Ronnei, Grand View Lodge resort general manager, said damage to the resort could total up to six figures. The golf course there is expected to reopen Tuesday, but "our beach was turned upside down," he said. About 200 trees on the resort were destroyed.