NEW ULM -Hermann the German and his tall sword usually protects New Ulm from lightning strikes and related issues.
Not on Thursday morning.
A lightning bolt knocked a concrete capstone atop Summit Hall to the ground at about 9:15 a.m. Thursday at Martin Luther College (MLC).
The piece of concrete was recovered by college maintenance workers.
It sunk several inches into the rain soaked ground a few feet west of the building, just inches from a new sidewalk.
College paint crew worker Jake Unke described the lightning strike.
"It was crazy loud. We were a floor below the top," said Unke.
A college maintenance employee described the weather conditions on Thursday morning.
"There was a loud (thunder) crash, right around 9:15 a.m. It got so dark out, the street lights were on," said MLC maintenance supervisor Kevin Neuman.
He added that since Hermann was placed back on his pedestal several years ago, there have been fewer lightning strikes and computer problems at the college.
Area rainfall reports ranged from one to two inches as several waves of thunderstorms blew across southern Minnesota between 4 a.m. and noon Thursday.
The rainfall was the first in area after several weeks of dry weather.
Official rainfall in New Ulm was 2.41 inches, according to weather observer Lonnie Spaeth.
The National Weather Service predicted a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms on Saturday night, Sunday and Monday.
Officer Andy Mathwig of the Sleepy Eye Police Department said the storm caused some damage to the roof at Stimpert Enterprises as well as damage to some trees in the city. One of the trees fell on a garage and took some electrical lines with it.
