DICKINSON - Dozens of businesses and homes were damaged - many to the point of being uninhabitable - after a tornado ripped through south Dickinson Wednesday evening.

Thursday, most of the city south of the Heart River remained a secured area as local, state and federal officials sifted through the rubble to determine the extent of the damage.

The National Weather Service determined the tornado was of the F3 class that carried winds in excess of 150 mph.

Miraculously, only minor injuries were reported.

About 100 soldiers from the North Dakota National Guard were in Dickinson by mid-day to provide security in the affected neighborhoods as well as traffic control and clean-up help if needed.

By 8:30 the morning after, the streets were buzzing with activity as residents fired up chainsaws to clear fallen trees from their yards and city crews loaded and hauled away debris.

At a briefing at the Dickinson Law Enforcement Center that was attended by Gov. John Hoeven and Brig. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, city officials said one of the first priorities was to clear debris from the streets so crews could get in and assess damage.

Shawn Kessel, city administrator, said he estimates "three or four dozen" homes were destroyed, but had yet to complete a full assessment of the damage.

The storm hit shortly after 8 p.m. local time Wednesday and sirens sounded about 20 minutes beforehand.

Kessel said the weather service had forecast the storm well ahead of time and the hospital had ramped up with emergency staff as a precautionary measure.

After the storm passed, emergency personnel conducted two door-to-door sweeps searching for victims.

"That's the miracle in all of this," Kessel said. "We've had reports of just a few minor injuries."

Hoeven credited city and county officials, as well as residents, for being prepared and coming to the aid of their neighbors.

"Our hearts go out to them," Hoeven said.

"But that's what North Dakotans do better than anyone else, I think. Help each other."

Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm also was in Dickinson to inspect the damage.

About 250 homes remained without electricity Thursday morning as crews from Montana-Dakota Utilities worked to restore power.

A shelter was opened at the National Guard Armory Wednesday night where 15 people took refuge and the Salvation Army and Red Cross also have set up emergency aid stations.

David Hunter was at his apartment complex at 534 Second Ave. when the storm hit.

He said when a friend noticed rotation in the clouds they decided to head indoors.

First the screens came off the windows, he said, then the windows themselves imploded, sending him airborne through his apartment.

"I felt like I was in the movie 'Wizard of Oz,' " he said.

Hunter received stitches on his right arm, but not before he went downstairs to pull a neighbor from the rubble.

"Everything is gone," he said.

At the Breakforth Bible Church just off south Main Street, Mikayla Reisenauer and Sydney Martin sifted through what was left of the brick structure, the roof gone and the stage now exposed.

"I was here maybe 45 minutes before it hit," Martin said.

"We're trying to salvage what we can." They managed to pulled two flags and an electric guitar from what remained of their church.

Just across street, Mindi Ulmer stood in the front yard of the house where she and her boyfriend have lived for about a year, a tree poking through the roof into her kitchen.

Ulmer said she was at work when the house was hit.

She said her dad checked on the house afterward and by the time she got off work it was too dark to see anything.

When she drove past the church and witnessed the damage there, she feared the worst.

"If the church went down I thought my house had to be down too," she said.

A new pickup and a Harley Davidson in garage seemed to have survived undamaged, she said.

"There is so much damage," Ulmer said as see looked up and down the streets of her neighborhood.

She said they would clean up the mess and go on with life.

"We're staying here for now, I guess," she said.

"It could have been a lot worse."

(Reach reporter Brian Gehring at 250-8254 or brian.gehring@bismarcktribune.com)