Cleanup continues after tornadoes damage dozens of homes near Rochester
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Cleanup continued Saturday after tornadoes damaged dozens of homes in southeast Minnesota on Friday afternoon.
National Weather Service survey crews confirmed at least five tornadoes touched down in Minnesota during the severe storms.
The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said about 30 homes were damaged — a dozen with significant damage — by a tornado in Marion Township, southeast of Rochester.
“Emergency services have disconnected electricity and natural gas in the affected area for safety. Personnel from Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Rochester Fire and Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office have conducted door-to-door checks to assess needs and ensure resident safety,” the sheriff’s office reported Friday night.
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On Saturday, the sheriff’s office said some road closures remained in place and “tornado disaster recovery continues to occur at full speed.”
The sheriff’s office said the tornado also damaged about 20 homes in Stewartville. A temporary shelter was set up in Rochester for people displaced from their homes.
The National Weather Service classified the Stewartville-Marion tornado as EF2 with winds peaking at 130 mph.
It traveled for nearly 10 miles while on the ground for 14 minutes in a path 175 yards at its widest.
The National Weather Service said some of the worst destruction was near Marion Road northeast of Highway 52. Several homes had roofs ripped off or exterior walls collapse.
The National Weather Service said another EF2 tornado in Wabasha County reached 125 mph, traveling about 7.5 miles in a path 150 yards at its widest. It damaged homes southeast of Plainview and Elgin, including ripping a roof off a farmhouse.
Survey crews also confirmed three weaker tornadoes touched down in southeast Minnesota on Friday afternoon:
An EF0 tornado touched down near the Dodge-Mower county line, north of Sargeant, and was on the ground for about 3 miles. It had peak winds estimated at 80 mph and a maximum width of 75 yards. It caused minor damage to a silo.
An EF0 tornado touched down just south of State Highway 30, a few miles west of the Rochester airport. It had peak winds estimated at 80 mph and traveled nearly 4 miles, with a maximum width of 75 yards. It caused minor damage to outbuildings and trees.
An EF1 tornado tracked from the northeast side of Rochester toward Potsdam, with peak winds estimated at 100 mph. It was on the ground for more than 20 minutes, covering more than 12 miles with a maximum width of 80 yards. It caused damage to trees and farm outbuildings.
The severe storms continued moving east into western Wisconsin, producing at least three more tornadoes — including an EF3 in Buffalo County.
The State Patrol said a driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries when his semi was overturned by a tornado along Interstate 90 southeast of Rochester just before 2:30 p.m. Friday. But the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said Friday night that it had no reports of other injuries or fatalities from the severe storms.
Tornadoes touch down in Rochester area, damaging dozens of homesPeople’s Energy Cooperative reported several hundred homes and businesses were still without power Saturday morning in Olmsted and Wabasha counties — down from several thousand in the immediate wake of the storms.
Line crews worked into the night Friday to repair broken utility poles and downed power lines, and the co-op said those workers would be back in the field on Saturday.
The number of customers still without power had dropped to fewer than 65 by Saturday night.
The Olmsted County Board issued a disaster declaration following the storms. The county set up an online form for residents to report property damage from the storms, to help officials determine the extent of damage.
The National Weather Service office in La Crosse, Wis. — which covers the Rochester area — said it issued 26 tornado warnings Friday, a record for the office.
