Barn destroyed by severe windstorm near Leader

Barney McCoy, Leader area, stands near his barn and 70-ft. cement silo that were destroyed in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, when winds with reported speeds of up to 80 mph ripped through much of Cass and Crow Wing counties. McCoy, 82, said he woke up at 2:30 a.m. that day. “It was whistling so bad and the house was shaking.” He’s lived in the house since the early 1970s and this is the worst storm he can remember. “I lost the barn, a shed and the roof from another shed flew off and stripped the top of some trees.” On a positive note, McCoy noted that the storm helped solve the problem of a dead tree he had on his property. “I was wondering how I was going to take that down. I guess the wind did it for me.” He’s also grateful that he held a sale a few months ago at the farm. “I sold a tractor and baler. If they’d still been in the barn, they would have been destroyed.” Also pictured is McCoy’s dog, Gentry, who was not harmed during the storm. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs)