(Sheldon)– A severe thunderstorm has claimed the life of a RAGBRAI rider in Sheldon…where riders spent the night Sunday.
City Manager Scott Wynja says 27-year-old Michael Thomas Burke of New York City was camping with two friends in the yard of a Sheldon residence when a severe thunderstorm struck around 1:00 a.m. Wynja says high wind and heavy rain caused a large tree branch to fall on Burke’s tent, killing him instantly. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the O’Brien County Medical Examiner. Burke’s friends were uninjured.
Wynja says many of the bikers were evacuated to a nearby school as a precaution. They were allowed back to their camp sites once the storm passed. Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Regina Clemens says even more lives could have been lost had it not been for the evacuations.
A considerable amount of property damage has been reported in the Sheldon area as a result of the early morning storm.
