Aug 27, 2007 - 16:20:19 CDT
NORTHWOOD (AP) — They huddled in a corner and prayed.
``We were crying. We thought we were going to go,'' Russell Melfald said in tears, after the mobile home belonging to him and his wife, Verna, was destroyed by a tornado packing winds of up to 170 mph.
One person was killed and 18 others injured in the Sunday night twister that left Northwood, a town of about 950 people southwest of Grand Forks, in ruins. Gov. John Hoeven issued an emergency declaration and ordered the National Guard to help with cleanup.
Forecasters said North Dakota could get more severe weather Monday, due to a mass of warm, unstable air followed by a strong cold front.
State Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman said the hardest-hit building in Northwood was the school, which he said suffered ``well over $1 million'' in damage. The roof was torn off and water was inside the classrooms.
Monday was supposed to be the first day of classes for the school year. Classes were canceled for the rest of the week.
The Guenthner Super Valu grocery store and Agvise Laboratories, which provides soil testing and plant analysis and is one of the city's major employers, also were damaged.
National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Gust said the tornado winds were in the range of 150 mph to 170 mph, and the twister was near a mile wide. It struck shortly before 9 p.m., Sunday.
Grand Forks County Sheriff Dan Hill said Larry Weisz, 57, a resident of the mobile home park on the north side of town, was killed after he was pinned between the base of a mobile home and a tree. The injuries of 18 others were not considered life-threatening, officials said.
``On the way into town, I saw a lot of incredible sights that just floored me,'' Hill said. ``There were cars that looked like they went through a crusher.''
Wreckage and fallen power lines blocked streets. Electricity was cut off to the entire city as a precaution, and authorities set up barricades to keep people out of the town.
``The city is not safe right now,'' Hill said late in the morning.
``This town is a mess. This town is a disaster,'' said Kevin Dean, a spokesman for the town's emergency operations center said early Monday. ``There's virtually nothing ... that hasn't been damaged.''
As the day wore on, the extent of the damage started to sink in for Northwood residents.
Amy Mastrud fought back tears. She said a tree fell on her house and the windows were blown out.
``It's starting to hit me, the more I look at it,'' she said.
She had huddled with her three children in the basement during the storm, she said.
``My kids said it sounded like a freight train,'' she said.
Kent Gronlie, who lives seven miles northeast of Northwood, said he found debris in his yard.
Residents of the town's health center, which includes a small hospital and a 77-bed nursing home, were moved into corridors before the storm struck and none was injured, said nursing director Carla Sletten. Windows were broken on one side of the nursing home, she said.
Roger Korsmo said he and his wife, three children and two dogs hustled into a basement bathroom just before the twister struck.
``You could feel the tremendous pressure building,'' Korsmo said. Windows started popping and his house started shaking, he said.
``We were all very scared. The dogs were just petrified. It's like they could sense something bad was happening,'' Korsmo said.
Russell Melfald said he could see the rotation of the tornado as it went over his mobile home.
``I could see the black,'' he said. ``I could see it spinning.''
Said Verna Melfald: ``We just prayed.''
Nancy Fisher, who lives in the same 14-unit mobile home park, chose to get in her car and outrace the storm.
``With all the broken glass in here, I'm sure I wouldn't have made it if I stayed,'' she said, standing in the debris of her totaled home.
Riley Pilipanko, who had a mobile home in the same park as Weisz, was storm chasing during the tornado. He came back to find his doublewide trailer leveled.
``I was in tears for a while. It's hard to take,'' Pilipanko said. ``The main part of it is, I'm all right. You can always replace buildings.''
Hoeven said it's the worst devastation he has seen from a tornado.
``Unless you see it, it's unbelievable,'' Hoeven said. ``It hit almost every home, business, trailer home, all the trees, everything.''
Hoeven said about 100 National Guard troops were expected to be in the town by Monday night. Federal and state officials are assessing damages as a precursor for government assistance.
Mayor Richard Johnson said officials have received offers of assistance from towns throughout North Dakota.
``It's been overwhelming,'' he said.
Johnson owns a used car lot in town. He said about 20 of his cars were destroyed, strewn throughout farm fields on the edge of town.
``It's the last thing on my mind right now,'' Johnson said. ``I've got to take care of the citizens.''
Jerome Peterson was surveying damage downtown after his apartment building was wrecked. A toppled barber pole was blocking the entrance to where he used to get his hair cut. Peterson said he needed a trim but said, ``it don't look like I'll get one very soon.''
chislaine weisz wrote on Dec 12, 2007 10:54 PM:
Josh K. wrote on Aug 27, 2007 11:54 PM:
Fluffy badger wrote on Aug 27, 2007 11:08 PM:
Wolf wrote on Aug 27, 2007 8:00 PM:
To Honkey wrote on Aug 27, 2007 6:43 PM:
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Twins' Mom wrote on Aug 27, 2007 1:46 PM:
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