Storms damage crops but may ease drought

Flooding rains and hail have caused millions of dollars of damage to homes, roads and crops in southwest Minnesota.

A hail storm Monday in southwest Minnesota caused widespread crop damage in southwest Minnesota's Rock County, where about 40 percent of the county's cropland was hit, said Fraser Norton, an official for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Rock County.

More weather coverage
• In Mankato: 'Water just about everywhere you look'
• To protect Boise paper, engineers eye dam flows
• Flood threats dampen business bottom lines
• Your photos, tweets from around Minnesota
• Check the forecast in your area
• Rush hour travel times and road conditions

"Most of the damage is in the northern one third of the county, about 100,000 acres, of which probably 55,000 acres are corn, 45,000 acres of soybeans," Norton said.

The potential value of the crops is about $60 million. County officials say the damage will have a significant economic impact.

"In places you can't even tell what crop was planted there before, you don't know whether it was corn or soybeans, it's been damaged to that extent," Norton said.

However, Norton said some of the fields may survive the hail and still produce a crop.

In some areas, the downpours may also provide a benefit.

City officials in Luverne and Worthington have been struggling to provide tap water due to low ground water supplies after two years of drought. But Luverne City Administrator John Call said the big storms will change that.

"I think you can finally say this was probably a real drought buster," he said.

Call said the city has received about eight inches of rain since Saturday, and more than a foot so far this month. The city still has a watering ban in place, but he said local leaders will discuss whether to lift the order in the weeks ahead.