'Half the town is gone': Tornado flattens tiny Taopi in Mower County

TAOPI, Minn. — This small farming town of about 80 people is now a demolition zone. Soggy debris covers much of the five-block area that makes up the community that was devastated by a tornado Tuesday night.

Half of the homes are gone. Tall trees stand no more. Volunteers moved Wednesday through muddy, cold ground made worse by light snow to clear out shredded walls, appliances, family keepsakes. And a historic building that was soon to become the new town hall will be torn down.

A tornado with winds of more than 111 mph struck this southeastern Minnesota town near the Iowa border after dark Tuesday, leveling buildings, snapping power poles and leaving piles of debris covering Main Street. Two people were trapped in the basement of their damaged home and had to be rescued. They suffered only minor injuries, officials said, and there were no reports of serious injuries.

The town wasn't as fortunate.

"Half the town is gone," City Clerk Jim Kiefer said. Of Taopi's 22 homes, at least 10 are beyond repair, with roofs and walls missing, he said. Kiefer said his house survived, but his mother's is a total loss.

"She won't be going home," he said.

Kiefer was at home before the twister hit about 10:40 p.m. He heard a warning on the radio to take cover.

"I listened, and I was lucky," he said.

In minutes, the twister took down power lines and razed buildings, causing gas leaks. It turned vehicles upside down and scattered debris over a wide area. Homes were ripped apart, and the wreckage still standing gave passersby a look into residents' exposed bedrooms and kitchens.

"There is hardly a tree left. Huge trees just pulled out by the stump and laid on their side," Kiefer said. "We have a mess. It kind of went down Main Street."

Ted Kiefer was in his bedroom about two minutes before the tornado struck his house. He said he had ignored his wife's calls to get to the basement at first but decided to join his family.

"We weren't there 20 seconds and it got windy," he said.

He said he could smell the insulation after the tornado ripped it out of the walls, and he spent until 3:30 a.m. covering the 8-foot hole in his roof. In the morning, he found his house slightly twisted off its foundation, his large storage shed in the backyard destroyed and debris strewn across his fields.

By Wednesday afternoon, the pit Ted Kiefer felt in his stomach looking at his property damage was gone. Instead, he said, he felt grateful for the people who came to help clean up.

"You don't know how good you have it living in a small town," he said. "I didn't ask these people to come. I turned 50 people away this morning because I didn't know what direction I was going to go."

Angie Schmitz said she was on the second floor of her house with her boyfriend when the storm rolled through. They made it to the front steps of the house when the tornado hit.

The couple were unharmed, but windows were blown out, trees in the backyard were shattered, and the east wall of Schmitz's house is gone. She expects her insurance company will declare the house a total loss.

Schmitz said she walked around in shock for most of the day but was happy to be alive. She celebrated her 47th birthday Tuesday.

"It was close," she said. "I shouldn't be here. It was close."

Dillon Heimer, with the Adams Volunteer Fire Department, had been enlisted to help with storm-spotting coverage as inclement weather moved into the area. Then he got a call about a house in Taopi that had its roof blown off. Two people were trapped in the basement. He helped pull them to safety. The residents were taken to Mayo Clinic for their injuries, which weren't serious, Mower County Sheriff Steve Sandvik said.

Firefighters from the neighboring towns of Adams and LeRoy went door to door to check on other residents. All were accounted for.

"It's pretty wrecked," Heimer said of the town. "Devastation."

Power poles and utility trucks trying to erect them on Wednesday blocked Hwy. 56, Taopi's main thoroughfare. Authorities barricaded the road on both ends of the town southeast of Austin to keep onlookers away and allow emergency crews to begin cleanup and recovery efforts, said Amy Lammey, with the Mower County Emergency Management.

Volunteers from nearby communities gathered throughout the day to help clean up the debris. Family members from out of town came to check on loved ones. By the afternoon, there were no longer tears, just tired expressions as people sifted through the rubble.

Lexi Smith took the day off from classes at the University of Wisconsin-Superior to drive down and help her family. Her father, Tracy Smith, said his family was unharmed and the house fared well compared to some of his neighbors. Trees had come through a few windows, knocking down the family's television and a few things off the wall.

Though the Smith family's garage and storage shed were leveled, Tracy Smith said his family's first priority after the storm was to make sure his neighbors were safe. Two of them didn't have basements.

"It's a small-town community," he said. "You make sure everybody's OK."

Daniel Evans with the Mower County Independent made it to Taopi about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday to photograph the destruction that touched nearly every block.

That included a power pole that landed on a former grocery store on Main Street. The town recently spent a lot of money to remodel the historic wooden structure, which was to become the new town hall. Now it will have to be razed, Jim Kiefer said.

The season's first bout of severe weather also caused damage in Spring Valley in Fillmore County and other parts of southeastern Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wis.

The National Weather Service's preliminary report said the damage in Taopi was caused by the state's first twister of the year. The tornado had winds estimated between 111 and 135 mph. Survey crews were in Taopi and surrounding areas Wednesday to assess the damage, meteorologist Dan Jones said.

The Weather Service also reported damage north of Ostrander. In Spring Valley, strong winds or a possible tornado snapped large trees, resident Stacy Rowe Greiff said.

"A neighbor's metal shed was destroyed and somehow ended in our yard," she said. "You can see a clear path of destruction through the backyards."

The storms also dropped pea- to ping-pong-sized hail as they moved across southern Minnesota and into western Wisconsin, the Weather Service reported.

As cleanup in Taopi began Wednesday, Jim Kiefer was unsure what would happen to the town.

"We don't know," he said. "We are still trying to grasp what happened."