Bemidji June 21 Storm: Officials React to Massive Damage

After speaking with several officials from the City of Bemidji and Beltrami County, it’s safe to say the area will never look the same again.

Thousands of residents throughout Beltrami County were met with tornado sirens in a notification early Saturday morning to seek shelter as dangerous winds started to sweep through the area.

“As I was watching the velocity on the radar, and it just exploded, my heart sank because I knew what we were in for,” said Beltrami County Emergency Management Director Chris Muller at a special board meeting on Monday. “And unfortunately, it happened.”

The Bemidji Regional Airport initially reported a wind gust of 106 miles an hour, prompting the sirens. Those wind speeds grew to 120 miles an hour as the heart of the storm made its way through the county.

“Category 3 hurricane [winds]—you know, that is just impressive,” Muller added.

We’re getting those 100 mph wind gusts here that was tracking from … Griggs County and Steele County in North Dakota all the way across into the Bemidji area,” said Jacob Spender, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Despite the strong winds, officials believe no tornado touched down in the area.

“We looked at basically all the trees going in one direction,” explained Spender. “The garages that were blown, the roofs that were blown off, there were all in one direction. They were not containing any of those indicators that we could potentially have a quick little spin-up within the storm itself. We’ve only seen straight-line winds [as] the main damage out there.

As the winds began to die down, the number of calls to emergency services began to rise.

“Bemidji Fire Department members responded to over 100 calls for service, and they varied from power lines down to gas line breaks, fires, car accidents, and so on and so forth,” said Bemidji Fire Chief Justin Sherwood.

One of their most significant calls was early Saturday morning of a reported explosion inside of a building not too far away from Sanford Health in Bemidji.

“This particular commercial building, which was heated by natural gas, experienced a leak and it was undetected,” Sherwood elaborated. “And as that building filled up with natural gas, we suspect that it hit an ignition source. So whether that be a furnace, a light, you know, electricity, whatever. And it exploded. So [it was] accidental in nature. However, it’s being investigated by the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office.”

Once the morning came, residents began assessing the damages to their properties as well as the rest of the town and couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“I’ve probably witnessed three or four really bad storms in Bemidji, but this is by far—I mean, it covers the whole city, and even north,” said Bemidji resident Louie Churack. “I haven’t been south, but it’s really terrible.”

“Trees down everywhere. Looks like the whole town got clear cut,” said resident Keelan. “Power lines down. Driving around on sidewalks to avoid them in the middle of the road.”

Despite the damage so far, there have been no injuries reported that are directly related to the storm, which officials say is nothing short of a miracle.

“When I see not only no deaths, but no injuries, in my book, that too is an act of God,” said Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince.

“I would describe it as shocking the level of damage that we’ve had,” Muller told Lakeland News. “The fact that nobody was hurt. Roofs missing, garages completely imploded. Just looking at the north side of town with all of the roofs and everything that is just gone, it’s nothing short of shocking that nobody got hurt.”

One thing that officials claim will never change, though, is the sense of community throughout the city. As soon as the storm cleared, even through the dead of night, many residents came to the aid of those around them.

“I’ve seen neighbors helping one another,” Prince added. “I’ve seen total strangers come to town with chainsaws and just start cutting up trees to to get people free from their homes and out of their driveways. So, you know, that’s the other thing I’ve seen in the middle of all of this is just the community coming together and neighbors helping each other, and I’m really grateful for that. And I think that’s part of what makes our community unique. And I think that’s what makes Bemidji, Bemidji.”

Despite the devastating destruction to the area, the iconic Paul and Babe statues at Paul Bunyan Park remain unscathed, showing that the people of Bemidji will stand tall no matter the odds stacked against them.

Some areas are still inaccessible due to debris, and the extent of damage is still being assessed. County officials want to remind everyone that if you encounter downed power lines, stay away and assume they are charged. And if you smell natural gas, call 911, as gas leaks are still being discovered.