Aug 29, 2007 - 04:04:38 CDT
NORTHWOOD - Cheers rang out amid the noise of chainsaws and trucks clearing debris from this disaster-stricken town.Agvise Laboratories, a major Northwood employer that provides soil testing and plant analysis around the world, plans to rebuild, its chief executive officer announced. Employees cheered as they cleared away trees and other debris from the Sunday night tornado that killed one person, injured 18, and destroyed the Agvise along with other businesses, homes and public buildings in Northwood.
"We can get through this," Agvise CEO Bob Wallace said, breaking down in tears Tuesday in talking about the plans to rebuild.
Agvise, which also has a plant in Benson, Minn., has 65 employees at its peak fall business season. The Northwood plant was rebuilt after a fire in 1996.
"We've done it before, we'll do it again," Wallace said.
The tornado, packing winds of up to 170 mph, was rated an F-4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, one level below the worst possible tornado, the National Weather Service said.
The tornado was nearly a mile wide and about five miles long as it pushed through the town of about 950 people, the weather service said.
Officials hoped to restore power to the Northwood hospital, which has been on a backup system, on Tuesday night and to the rest of the community within a couple of days.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who toured the area Tuesday, estimated "tens of millions" of dollars in damage to public facilities.
Emergency operations spokesman Kevin Dean said 350 truckloads of debris were removed Monday, and officials hoped to double that Tuesday.
National Guard members are helping to clear debris and enforce an 8 p.m curfew. City officials did not ask for volunteers, saying they wanted to clean up areas first and make sure they were safe of such things as metal, wood or broken glass.
The volunteers came, anyway, including 28 Mayville State University basketball players and two coaches who drove up in two vans.
Head coach Justin Johnson said the players were quiet when they saw all the damage.
"I don't think any of them really understood how devastating the damage could be. It's pretty powerful stuff," Johnson said.
"You have to see it with your own eyes to believe it," said Bryce Laxdal, one of the players.
His teammate, Drew Bergerson, was carrying around a half-deflated and dirty basketball he found in the street. "This is a score right here," he said smiling. "This is memorabilia."
The Mayville players worked at the community center and hauled away branches and a fallen tree near a home.
"Thirty guys can clear out a lot of lumber pretty quickly," said Mike Voglewede, a Northwood teacher. "And they're all smiling, too."
Police Chief Keith Prosser said he was grateful for all the help. On Sunday night, he had been caught up in the tornado in his vehicle as he tried to outrun the storm.
A tree hit the side of the patrol car as he drove by the cemetery, he said.
"At that point, it lifted me up and set me down right in the yard. About all I could do was lay my head down and try to dodge all the stuff coming through the window," the chief said. "The debris was crazy."
Officials said an 8 p.m. curfew would continue in the community, and they set a procedure for volunteers to register, saying they were not asking for volunteers until they made sure work areas were safe.
"What we're trying to tell people is that there's going to be plenty of work, for quite some time," Dean said.
Chemicals were donated to spray for mosquitoes, and with the rain of the past few days, "there's a lot of mosquitoes," he said.
Justin Morris, 12, was surveying damage at the Northwood school, where classes have been called off for the week.
"It sure looks pretty bad," he said.
The sounds of the heavy equipment were welcome. "The spirits are a lot higher today than they were yesterday," Dean said.
Shelly Hagen, an administrative assistant at Agvise, said she lives on a farm outside town and has worked at the soil-testing plant for 22 years. She was relieved to hear it would rebuild.
"It's nice to have some good news," she said.
a wrote on Aug 29, 2007 1:44 PM:
NoDak John wrote on Aug 29, 2007 8:48 AM:
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.