On Tuesday May 16, 2017 at 5:33pm the Barron County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a possible tornado touchdown in the Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Home Park. This is unconfirmed and we are waiting for the National Weather Service to confirm this.
The Barron County Sheriff’s Department along with all local area law enforcement agencies in Barron County and 12 area ambulances and 6 area fire departments responded to the scene.
The mobile home park contained 50-60 trailers and several of them are totally destroyed. 17 people were transported from the scene to area hospitals with approximately 5-10 more with minor injuries that refused treatment. One 46 yr old male subject was found deceased.
All area residents of the mobile home park have been accounted for.
We will continue to assess area damage in the mobile home park and other parts of the county. We have several reports in the county of other structures down, trees down and damaged vehicles.
I want to thank all the area emergency personnel for their response and the out pouring of support for the resident’s who are displaced-Special thanks to Mosaic Telecom, The Red Cross and the Salvation Army for setting up a shelter and providing food and clothes for these families.
There are several more people and businesses to thank for the support, food, water etc and in the coming days I hope to be able to thank them.
Chris Fitzgerald, Barron County Sheriff
Last Update: May 17, 2017 5:56 am CDT
