Tornadoes Devastate Minnesota Town

GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Residents of this south central Minnesota town began a massive cleanup Wednesday after tornadoes left a swath of devastation, killing one person, injuring 15 and damaging up to 350 homes and flattening some of them.

“There wasn’t much warning,” said resident Ann Johnson. “I was in my home and looked out the window because it was hailing. It got quiet and I saw two funnel clouds hit the ground, only two or three blocks away.

“People’s houses were flying around, there was wood in the air and metal. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. It seemed to last forever, but it was probably only 15 minutes. It totally wiped everything out where it hit. It was the first tornado I’ve seen and I hope it’s the last,” she said.

Johnson was staffing a help desk Wednesday at the Kilowatt Community Center, which was used as a shelter for those who lost their homes and for rescue workers. She said most of those whose homes were damaged spent the night with friends or family, but the center was used by about 280 people who were working through the night.

“Nobody slept,” she said.

The Minnesota Department of Emergency Management said a 40-square-block residential and industrial area on the west side of Granite Falls, a town of more than 3,000, was damaged by the storms, which struck at dusk Tuesday. About six tornadoes were sighted across the region as the storms moved through. The most damage occurred in Granite Falls.

The city, about 100 miles west of Minneapolis, was also damaged during floods in 1997 when snowmelt sent the Minnesota River out of its banks, inundating the downtown.

Officials said there was major damage from the storm at a United Parcel Service shipping center and a Cenex agricultural coop.

The body of one man was found beneath a pickup truck that the storm apparently tossed on top of him, according to Chuck Hardy, a dispatcher at the Yellow Medicine County sheriff’s office. He described damage in Granite Falls as “extensive.”

“There are houses gone, trees down, power lines down,” said Granite Falls Municipal Hospital administrator George Gerlach.

He said 15 people were brought to the hospital after the tornado struck. Fourteen were treated and released and one was held overnight.

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura called out National Guard troops to help with the cleanup. The National Guard had cordoned off the area of the most extensive damage and it was uncertain when people would be allowed back, Gerlach said.

Debris was reported to be so heavy that snowplows were sent out immediately after the storm to clear roads and allow rescue workers into town.