TAOPI, Minn. — Residents of a small farming community in southeastern Minnesota are working to get back on their feet following a devastating tornado that destroyed half of the town's homes, toppled tall trees and left piles of debris in its wake.
The EF2 tornado with winds of more than 110 mph struck Taopi near the Iowa border shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday night, tearing the roofs off houses, overturning vehicles and bringing down power lines. There were no reports of serious injuries.
Volunteers from the area and beyond arrived Wednesday to help residents clean up the debris in the community of about 80 people. Family members sifted through rubble looking for keepsakes, hoping they had survived.
“Half the town is gone,” City Clerk Jim Kiefer shared. He says of Taopi’s 22 homes, at least 10 are beyond repair, with roofs and walls missing.
Kiefer said his house is OK, but his mother’s is a total loss.
“She won’t be going home,” he said.
Nora Kiefer, age 94, is also mother to the mayor of Taopi, Mary Huntley. She says all her children were born in the home that now lays in ruin. Despite all that has happened, Kiefer says she isn't going anywhere.
"Well, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else," she said with a slight smile.
Mayor Huntley is confident her mother won't be the only one vowing to stay in Taopi, and that there will be help on the road to recovery.
"Everybody's helping us to just dig out right now and make a plan," Huntley said. "Everyone tells me they are committed to starting over, they're staying here, we're committed to our town."
The community has been remodeling a former grocery store on Main Street into the new town hall. But, a power pole landed on the historic wooden structure, which will now have to be razed, Kiefer said.
The season’s first round 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, Wisconsin.
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