Hail hammers

vehicles, fields

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Several areas south of New Ulm were hard hit by hail during Wednesday's storm that dumped more than 3 inches of rain in some areas.

More than 100 vehicles were struck by hail at S&S Motors, on Highway 68, several miles southeast of New Ulm.

No vehicle windows were broken, but hail dented vehicles and broke S&S's plastic sign.

"There was lots of big hail, up to an inch and a half deep," said Mark Schaefer of S&S. "It did a lot of damage. It's the worst I've ever seen around here."

Hail the size of golf balls fell for about 15 minutes at D&M Custom Cycle in Searles.

"It trashed the roofs of four pickups, broke a window and mirror," said Matt Gulden.

The Springfield area received considerable damage from pea and marble-sized hail, according to Tom Maher of the Brown County Soil and Water Conservation District.

"Beans were damaged if they were out of the ground," Maher said. "There are lots of acres under water. If the water goes down within two or three days, we should be OK."

About three inches of rain fell around Sleepy Eye. High winds destroyed a machine shed owned by Dan Steffl, two miles east of there Wednesday night.

Maher said it's too early to say that the drought situation is over.

"It's a blessing in disguise," said Hanska farmer Dennis Broste. "We needed this rain for June, July and August, just not this hard and fast."

Nicollet County Extension Educator Gary Hachfeld estimated that between 16,000 and 18,000 acres were hit by hail in varying degrees.

He said an oval shaped area was hit bounded by Klossner, Courtland, Nicollet and St. Peter.

Hachfeld said most of the corn will survive.

He said farmers thinking about replanting should contact their insurance agents. Some hayfields may need to be harvested early.

"The topsoil is pretty saturated but the subsoil is still pretty dry," Hachfeld said.

Watonwan County Extension Educator Gary Wyatt said hail damaged fields near Hanska, La Salle, Madelia and north of St. James.

"We went from from extreme to the other," Wyatt said. "Last week, we were too dry. Now, we're too wet. It could take up to 10 days to dry out."

Wyatt said farmers could access Extension service brochure no. 7444 by visiting www.extension.umn.edu