Minnesota tornadoes leave 3 dead, injure dozens
As many as 60 tornadoes tore through Minnesota on Thursday evening, killing three people, injuring dozens of others and flattening homes up and down the state.
Police and National Guard soldiers are blocking entry to tornado-damaged neighborhoods in Wadena as the northwestern Minnesota town prepares to start cleaning up after the devastating storms.
In the northwest part of the state, an elderly woman was killed in Almora and a gas station owner was killed in Mentor. In southern Minnesota, one person was killed at a farm west of Albert Lea.
Officials in Wadena are meeting to plan the town’s next step. The storms destroyed or damaged dozens of homes, toppled power lines and left a big chunk of the town treeless.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty planned to tour storm-damaged areas later Friday.
Wadena, Minnesota, a small town of about 4,000, and three hours north of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, was hit hard. The tornado came roaring through at about 5:00 pm.
A school bus barn was destroyed, along with three buses. Steel beams were wrapped around one bus, while another was covered in debris. A nearby high school lost its roof.
The tornado leveled a concrete and cinder block and brick.
The National Weather Service is investigating, but the level of damage indicates a low-level EF3 tornado. That means winds of at least 135 miles an hour. The NWS will make the final determination.
The Wadena mayor is thankful the sirens went off early, 36 minutes before the tornado hit, thus saving lives. However, 20 were injured here in this town.
