Tsunami Ice Wave Comes Ashore In Minnesota, High Winds Causes Lake Mille Lac Ice Storm [VIDEO]
In a scene like something out of an apocalyptic movie, an eerie natural phenomenon classified as an ice tsunami sent giant sheets of ice into neighborhoods around Minnesota's Lake Mille Lacs earlier this week.
Footage captured by eyewitnesses living in close proximity to Lake Mille Lacs shows homes being covered and damaged by rapidly moving, thick sheets of ice rising from the nearby shoreline. WKYC reported that the naturally destructive weather occurrence brought piles of ice tall enough to reach homes' front doors and second-story windows with ease.
The National Weather Service reported that the unusual storm, which began Saturday morning and stopped sometime Sunday, was caused by 30- to 40-mile-per-hour winds that pushed the lake’s water into the ice, causing it to move at a rapid pace.
Minnesota resident Darla Johnson posted a video of the ice in action on YouTube Saturday, showing the ice rapidly approaching Izatys Resort, near Mille Lacs Lake; the clip shows the ice moving from the shorelines all the way to the back of the resort homes, all within the six-minute video.
“It’s really pushing in. It’s just pushing and pushing and pushing ... It’s crawling up the walls of the houses! It’s going right through their f--kin' house! ” said Johnson, who said the rapidly moving ice plowed over bushes, busted through one home's back door and reportedly sounded like a train.
The Department of Natural Resources reported that 10 miles of the lake’s shoreline are currently covered with ice, some piles reaching up to 30 feet in height.
ABC News Weather Anchor Sam Champion said the weather occurrence was due to the country’s extreme temperature shifts, with one side of the country reaching the high 90s and others, the low 30s, with the ice shards moving due to its inability to melt before the high Midwest winds approached.
A similar ice storm struck Manitabo, Canada, last week, destroying 12 two-story homes and damaging 15 others near Ochre Beach, the Winnipeg Free Press reported Saturday.
Resident Doug Davis said he heard the ice coming from indoors before it plowed through his home, pushing his bathtub and bathroom vanity into the hallway of his home.
“The ice came right through the living room. ... He said, 'Grab your purse, grab whatever you can, we have to get out of here,'” storm victim Donna Billows told ABC.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.