Straight-line winds damage apartment roof in Baxter

If the severe storm didn't wake up residents of Cypress Court Apartments in Baxter Thursday morning, chunks of roof crashing to the ground might have, and the subsequent fire alarm certainly did.

Two gables and pieces of roof sheeting on the northern building of the complex, located at 13150 Cypress Dr., were torn off by what is suspected to be high velocity straight-line winds that reached speeds of nearly 70 miles per hour.

The Brainerd Fire Department received a fire alarm call from the building at 7:01 a.m. and responded with a rescue truck and crew. Mark Cross, senior architect for the company that built the complex, Kuepers Architects and Builders, said that pipes broke in the sprinkler system when the roof sustained damage, triggering the sprinklers and the alarm.

Once they established there was no fire, between 15 and 18 firefighters went to work evacuating residents from 24 units on the eastern end, the area most affected.

Although there is significant damage to the outside of the building and extensive water damage inside, no injuries of residents were reported and a Kuepers structural engineer deemed the building "structurally safe," meaning residents could at least enter the building to retrieve personal belongings.

"Thank God everybody is OK," said Debbie Maust, building manager. "That was my concern. This can all be fixed, people can buy new furniture, but nobody is hurt, and that's a blessing."

Maust said she awoke when something hit her bedroom window, although she lives in the other building, where the roof remained intact.

"All of a sudden I could hear the alarms that go off when something is happening," Maust said. She drove over to the other building and one of the roof gables was on the ground when she arrived. The other damaged gable caved in slightly and did not fall.

Cross said a total of 18 units were affected by the sprinkler and rain damage and Brainerd Fire Chief Kevin Stunek said 11 units were deemed unlivable after inspection. This displaces at least 20 residents for a week or longer while reconstruction takes place.

Cross said the building will need four new trusses, new insulation and likely some replacement sheetrock following the storm and water damage. Construction crews are working on removing the damaged trusses and installing a temporary roof, and he said they would have the building waterproofed by end of day Thursday.

Cross said the building was built to code at the time of construction and they have not had any issues with this property before.

"It's one of those freak wind-related incidents," he said. "You plan for it."

Five volunteers with the American Red Cross Disaster Services arrived on the scene shortly after 8:30 a.m., prepared to assist residents with food, clothing and temporary housing. Lynette Nyman, communications manager for the Red Cross, said the organization is providing hotel rooms for residents of three units. The organization will provide housing for three nights, she said, and then reassess the needs of those affected depending on the situation.

"From our perspective, it's a pretty clean response," said Terry Sluss, Red Cross volunteer. "We don't seem to need to get people a lot of other alternatives, medicines or anything like that, it's just water damage and wind damage."

Sluss said three apartments on the top level directly below the damaged roof sustained the most water damage, and units below those had water dripping through the ceiling and light fixtures.

A couple of residents in the affected units are out of town, he said, so as of Thursday afternoon they had not been in touch with everyone, but it was likely everyone who needed their help had been in contact.

Resident Janis Anderson said the storm and her cats woke her up about 10 minutes before the roof fell to the ground. She happened to be looking out her window when the gable above her apartment blew off the building.

"It was bizarre because they just fell off," Anderson said. "There was insulation all over my windows and I thought, 'What's the deal, is it snowing?'"

Not long after, she said, alarms began ringing and the electricity went out.

"It's really quite amazing to be inside and to see pieces of the building fly by," she said. "It's like 'Wizard of Oz.' I'm just like, so am I in Kansas or what's going on?"

Resident Kari Williamson was one of those displaced from her apartment due to water damage. She said she is working with her insurance company through her renter's insurance to secure a place to stay for the night.

"I know I'll have a place, so that's not a problem," she said. "The stuff in my apartment, it's going to be fine. It's just a little inconvenient right now."

Nick Wanka, who lives on the second floor of the building, said his renter's insurance is also taking care of a place to stay. Wanka said he was just about to leave for work when he heard a loud noise that he thought was a lightning strike. When the fire alarms went off, he thought it might be a tornado.

"I went down to the basement," he said. "The power was out and some water started leaking."

He was able to return to his apartment briefly to grab a small bag of clothing and suits for work.

Red Cross volunteers said they strongly encourage renter's to carry insurance exactly for instances like this.

In addition to the fire department and Red Cross, the Baxter Police Department, North Memorial Ambulance and the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene.