BRAINERD, Minn. — Homeowners in the Brainerd lakes area were hot, sweaty and tired working through the humidity Tuesday — Day 2 — of cleanup from Sunday night’s supercell thunderstorm that had hurricane force winds.

The Cinosam Road neighborhood off Minnesota 371 north of Brainerd International Raceway on Gull Lake was one of the areas hit hard.

The neighborhood — once full of towering Norway pines and other pines that have been there for decades — had many downed trees with some striking and damaging houses, garages and sheds. Power lines were tangled in trees and power poles laid along the road as residents continued to clear their properties.

Hal and Mona Warren’s property did not look pretty off Cinosam Road, as there were five towering trees lying on their garage, with some that broke through the rafters. They had trees fall on their home with one breaking through the kitchen ceiling.

“We had the tree taken off but an entire branch from the tree was inside the kitchen,” the Warrens said.

The Warrens said they had a John Deere tractor, an all-terrain vehicle, a truck and bicycles in the backyard damaged by trees. Their fences had trees on them and their apple trees were destroyed.

The Warrens also own property next to their house that they rent out. That house and garage also had trees fall on them.

“We were in the basement during the storm,” Mona Warren said. “We heard such a noise and then water that came through the ceiling.

“The renters were OK. When we got outside it was total destruction. Trees that have been here for hundreds of years are gone.”

A few houses down, Ed Koeh said, “I don’t know what to say, but holy crap … I feel lucky and I feel bad for people who had much more damage than I did. I had two trees on the house and two on my truck and on my carport. We worked all day Monday and are back at it today.”

Koeh said his son-in-law, Justin Lundgren and John Berquist, self-employed contractors, were helping him clean up his yard that had trees down everywhere.

Koeh said he was in the basement at the time of the storm and he could hear the trees hit the house.

“They came down slowly,” he said. “We heard a big whoosh when they hit the house.”

Sondra Dircks said, “I am one of the lucky ones, I lost one old, strong Norway pine. I think it was my tree that possibly took out the power. … My husband has been helping the neighbors with more devastating damage.”

Mary Jo and Tom Ohlin’s cabin on Paine Avenue off Cinosam Road was destroyed.

“We were not up here when the storm hit, we were at our home in Excelsior,” Mary Jo Ohlin said. “Our daughter was here and left about five hours before the storm. … When we got up here Monday it was complete devastation.”

Ohlin said the cabin was built in the 1950s by her grandfather.

“This has been in our family for so long and to see it like this, it’s heartbreaking,” Ohlin said. “Three huge oak trees came down on it, the whole cabin shifted and the structure is damaged.”

The Ohlins also had a boat that was damaged, but their garage was untouched.

HELP ARRIVES

Law enforcement, charity groups, businesses and individual volunteers were rallying to help clean up thousands of trees and get supplies to the areas pummeled by the storm.

An incident command post and relief center was established Tuesday at Timberwood Church at 23084 Minnesota 371 in Nisswa.

The relief center will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. to assist storm victims in need of water, ice and food.

Agencies operating the temporary facility include the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Bridges of Hope, Lutheran Social Services, the Crow Wing County sheriff’s office, Crow Wing County Community Services and the Crow Wing County Highway Department.

In a release Tuesday afternoon, Crow Wing County Sheriff Todd Dahl asked the public to stay out of storm-affected areas unless they live there or are helping with relief efforts. Unauthorized individuals “are subject to law enforcement contact and will be told to leave the area,” the release said.

NO POWER

Power outages stretching into the second day also created issues for emergency personnel looking to assist those who needed help.

One concern arising as a result of widespread power loss is the potential for residents to be stranded without access to call for emergency assistance.

Dahl said although some people might have access to a cellphone charger designed for use in their vehicles, not everyone owns one. As the hours without power tick by, cellphone batteries might be dwindling.

“That’s kind of a real tough situation for all of us,” Dahl said.

Dahl said deputies were driving around to try to determine whether anyone remains blocked in by power lines or fallen trees, but neighbors checking on neighbors is still the best way to make sure everyone gets the help they need.

“We rely so much on our electronics, and then when our electronics fail us, what do we do?” Dahl said. “We’re concerned about people that are bedridden, people that are on oxygen. … Hopefully people are good enough to check on their neighbors in making sure they’re OK.”

Dahl said another concern for emergency personnel is access to people in need of medical care. The sheriff’s office responded to a medical call early Tuesday morning of a person who’d fallen and may have broken a hip.

“They couldn’t get out of their house because obviously they can’t move, and the emergency vehicles can’t get in because of the trees,” Dahl said.

DISASTER STATUS

The Crow Wing County Board on Tuesday authorized the chairman to sign a disaster declaration following Sunday’s storm, should one be warranted.

Crow Wing County Emergency Management Director John Bowen told the county board he is working on a preliminary damage assessment to determine whether the financial impact of the storm’s damaging winds meets state or federal disaster relief thresholds.

Bowen said officials from the state requested the assessment. According to the Homeland Security and Emergency Management division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, the state must sustain at least $7.4 million worth of damage to uninsured public infrastructure to meet the threshold for a presidential disaster declaration. In addition, affected counties within the state must each meet their individual disaster thresholds, a figure based on a county’s population.