WITOKA, Minn. – A power line snapped and sparked when a tree slammed down on County 17 near Witoka. There was no fire, no injuries. Utility crews also were called over the weekend to other power lines cut by falling trees and limbs elsewhere in Winona County. Sheriff’s deputies and city police counted 18 calls for road hazards that had to be removed. Ssome were tree limbs, some power lines. The hazards also included cars in ditches. Some cars were blocking roads. Most motorist issues were in the Garvin Heights neighborhood, which is reached mostly by a narrow, curvy and steep grade up from Huff Street. On Highway 61 in Minnesota City a truck’s semi-trailer glanced into snowplow. The driver, perhaps not even knowing what happened, kept on going. There were no juries. The downed trees and limbs, still weak from winter, snapped in stiff winds during the late spring storm. Trees were strained by the heavy wet snow that packed fast to branches and limbs and weighed them down.
Country path littered. Birches were especially vulnerable to weighty snow packed solid on branches. Ones on roads, being light, were removed easily. Image: Steve Lunde