Eagan residents clean up after tornado

Eagan residents spent Sunday cleaning up broken branches, debris, and leaves after a tornado touched down in the area Saturday night.

In a quiet Eagan neighborhood, chainsaws broke the silence as the community cleaned up the debris that Saturday night’s tornado left behind.

“I can get mad, but it wouldn’t change much so just got to be productive and do the best you can,” Samuel Brose, Eagan resident, said.

Brose came home to find Mother Nature redecorated his backyard.

“We actually weren’t here when it happened. We came back. I went to the door right there and the deck was gone and there was a branch through the window,” Brose said.

But he’s not facing the cleanup alone.

“I got really good friends and family is helping out. I really appreciate all the help. The neighbors are helping out too. It’s a community thing,” Brose said.

The path of destruction made its way through Widgeon Way.

“Kind of shocked. The roads were completely flooded at that point. This was all water and tree limbs,” Shannon Swedock, Eagan resident, said.

Neighbors spent hours cleaning up broken branches, leaves, and debris scattered across the area.

Most people were awake when the storm swept through.

“It got real quiet, and it wasn’t even raining, and I said, ‘Oh we need to go downstairs.’ Then all of a sudden, it sounds like a big train coming through the backyard,” Becky Roe-Smith, Eagan resident, said.

After the storm, Roe-Smith said she’s choosing to look on the bright side.

“We’ve gotten to know our neighbors really well. We walk up and down and everybody’s visiting with everybody and helping,” she said.

Neighbors agree— you can’t control Mother Nature, but you can control what happens next.

“This is a great neighborhood and that’s what neighbors do. We all help each other and they would be doing exactly the same thing for me,” Swedock said.