Storm in Sauk Centre, Minnesota: Trees Down, Property Damage, No Injury

A heavy storm rolled over Sauk Centre Sunday night. Power went out around 8:15 p.m. - which explains why the warning sirens didn't go off. My wife, #3 daughter, and son got home from Soo Bahk Do about that time.

For the next 21 hours, we didn't have power. Telephone, television, and Internet connections came back between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. last night.

We were inconvenienced, nothing more.

Crushed Truck, Trees Down, Nobody Hurt

A few blocks north, somebody's truck is about a foot shorter than it was before the storm. Part of a tree fell on it.

Hundreds of trees - mostly big ones - are down, all over town. Some of them fell on power lines and overhead cables, some fell on houses. There's a lot of property damage: from falling trees; and from the wind ripping parts of buildings off.

As far as I know, nobody was killed. Nobody was hurt - not seriously enough to report, anyway.

Someone I talked with said it was a miracle. She could be right.

Faith Shattered by Storm?

Judging from some things I read and hear from time to time, my faith should be shattered into little tiny pieces now - my confidence in God completely gone.

That's because Sauk Centre, Minnesota, was dedicated to the Divine Mercy in 1982. (April 19, 2009) And here, just 29 years and about three months later, a big storm comes through town.

Over the years, quite a few storm fronts approaching Sauk Centre developed gaps and went around the town were I live, and others that simply went somewhere else. I've noted that, and thought that it was - interesting. Not much more than that.

This isn't the first time that we've had storm damage: Part of a car dealership landed down the street from my house, a few years ago.

Near-Miss, 2007

A near-miss for folks living near Lake Wobegon Trail. August 11, 2007.


Saturday morning's storm could have been worse. August 11, 2007.

Miracles and Getting a Grip

I think there may very well have been something miraculous is nobody in Sauk Centre getting hurt or killed in Sunday night's storm. And in almost three decades of really 'good luck' around here.

There wasn't something like a burning column of cloud and fire - but that sort of thing doesn't happen all that often. (Exodus 13:21)

Besides, as I've said before, I'm not going to tell God what He can and can't do.

Miracles and Getting a grip

I've posted about miracles before. Briefly:

• Do miracles happen?
  • Yes
    • Jesus did miracles (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 547)
    • So did His disciples, in His name (Catechism, 434)
  • In a sense, the universe is a continually occurring miracle (Catechism, 434)
• So, Catholics are a superstitious lot, who think miracles really happen?
  • No
    • We're not allowed to be superstitious (Catechism, 2110-2111)
• What about faith and reason?
  • Faith is not opposed to reason (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 35)

As usual, there's more. This definition of "miracle," for one thing:

"MIRACLE: A sign or wonder, such as a healing or the control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power. The miracles of Jesus were messianic signs of the presence of God's kingdom (547)." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary, M)

Related posts:

• Miracles, and Sauk Centre
  • "Sauk Centre Storm July 10: No Power, No Internet, No Injuries"
    Sauk Centre Journal Blog (July 12, 2011)
  • "Rosary, Land Mine, Miracles and Coincidence" (August 2, 2010)
  • "Miracles, Mass, Bread and Wine"
    (June 7, 2010)
  • "Saints: That's so Medieval"
    (February 14, 2010)
  • "Divine Mercy Sunday: a Few Words, a Link or Two"
    (April 19, 2009)
• Getting a grip
  • "Earth Day, 2011: Environmental Concerns, Catholic Faith, and Me"
    (April 15, 2011)
    • Link list of related posts
  • "When to Call Tech Support, When to Read the Bible"
    (January 14, 2011)
  • "If Catholics are Superstitious, How Come We're Not Allowed to be Superstitious?"
    (August 18, 2010)
  • "Report of a UFO Would 'Destroy One's Belief in the Church?!' "
    (August 6, 2010)
  • "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
    (March 20, 2009)

In the news:

• "Storm, straight line winds rip Sauk Centre"
  KARE (July 11, 2011)
• "Warning Sirens Silenced by Storm in Sauk Centre"
  KSTP 5 (July 11, 2011)