Wadena residents, friends and family members, including Dwayne and Angie Reisenauer of Staples, walked the streets of tornado-damaged Wadena June 17, a few hours after the storm blew through town, ripping up trees, destroying buildings and heavily damaging many homes and other buildings in its path. Near the corner of Colfax and 7th Street in SW Wadena, dishes can be seen still stacked in a cupboard of a home that was ripped apart by the tornado. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs) The city of Wadena and surrounding areas were hard hit by one of a series of tornadoes last Thursday, causing major damage and devastation but only a relatively few injuries.

Rated an EF4, the Wadena tornado was more than a mile wide, was on the ground for more than 10 miles and carried winds of up to 170 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

An EF4 is a rare tornado, stronger than any seen in 10 years in Minnesota, the weather service determined. Two other EF4 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota the same day as Wadena was hit - one in Almora and another near Albert Lea, in Freeborn County. Lives were claimed in both.

The Wadena-Deer Creek High School was all but destroyed when a tornado blew through the town of Wadena June 17, knocking down brick walls, shattering glass windows and doors, and ripping away the school’s roof. At least 25 people were in the building when the storm hit, all there to register for an all-school reunion. They were able to seek shelter in the boy’s locker room and no serious injuries were reported at the school site. WDC superintendent Virginia Dahlstrom expects a report by July 7 from the school’s insurance company on whether the damage to the school will be repaired or if a new school has to be built. In the meantime the administration is working out of the elementary school which had minor damage. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs) In Wadena, the EF4 tornado damaged or destroyed more than 200 buildings and injured about 30 people.

The Wadena-Deer Creek High School was heavily damaged, the city’s Community Center and its ice arena was destroyed and the Leaf River Ag Supply business near the school was demolished. Other businesses along Highway 10 in Wadena were also damaged.

“It sounded like a thousand freight trains,” Dean Boxell said near his home about three blocks south and east of the high school. The tornado was accompanied by rain and hail, he said.

Other residents said it took from a few seconds to two minutes for the tornado to tear through the west edge of town, coming roughly ten minutes after 5 p.m.

There were no fatalities reported in Wadena, but one of three people killed that day in Minnesota was in Almora, north of Parkers Prairie. About 34 storm-related accidents were reported at Wadena’s Tri-County Hospital, with three reportedly held overnight for more serious injuries.

Berndt Low - een, 1960 graduate of Wadena High School, now of Coon Rapids, was registering at the high school for an allschool reunion when a tornado on June 17 destroyed the high school and much of Wadena. Pictured above, Loween (right) spoke with Staples World editor Tom Crawford about his close encounter with the tornado, which blew the school doors wide open as he was trying to get to safety. At right, Mike Gibson, also a 1960 graduate, sought shelter with others in a locker room. He later discovered his vehicle was upside down and damaged beyond repair. He found his wife’s purse in debris nearly 100 feet away from the car. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs) Trees were downed in residential areas throughout the west side of Wadena, where hardly a home was undamaged. Some had walls torn away, while others

Kayla Krause (left), a recent graduate of Wadena- Deer Creek High School, got some support from her friend Skye Coughlin of Staples after a tornado blew through her family’s Wadena neighborhood, ripping up most of their trees and causing damage to their home. The Krauses’ home is close to the high school, which was heavily damaged by the tornado. “Who would have known a few weeks ago that my class would be the last one to graduate in that building?” Kayla said. Skye’s brother Guthrie and dad Kevin also helped clear trees at Krauses. (Staples World photo by Dawn Timbs) Wadena

only had a shingle or two missing. Some had multiple trees down or leaning, while other trees survived untouched.

Derek Boyd and his fiance live in a second floor apartment at Meadowbrook Apartments, just east of the high school. The west wall of the building was gone, but their clothes were still hanging in the closet space.

“There’s no roof on the high school, “ Jason Kenny of Bluffton said. He could see it while standing in Boyd’s apartment. Two city utility poles were broken off and leaning against the apartment building, with power lines hanging in limbo.

The Leaf River Ag Supply business took a direct hit from the storm. Luckily, according to one source, there were only five people still there working at the time the tornado hit, and they were able to get into the safe with seconds to spare.

Also heavily damaged were the school district’s bus garage and the Wadena Hide and Fur salvage business.

“It couldn’t have been in Wadena for more than two minutes,” Rich Paper, co-owner of Wadena Hide and Fur said. “I did not see a funnel but a lot of debris and horizontal rain coming from the west.”

He wondered about that because the tornado supposedly came from the southeast. He said he and six others, customers and workers, huddled in the bathroom when they saw the debris flying. “In an instant it was upon us.”

He said there was little damage north of the Highway 10 and 71 intersection, but some trees were down in the northwest corner of the city. The business strip of West Highway 10 in Wadena where his business is located took a beating. “We lost a roof on one warehouse. Compared to those east of us, we got by easy.”

East of the salvage business were Heartland Tire, the school bus garage and the former Wadena Building Supply, now Express Central. All had damage, with the bus garage heavily damaged and many buses damaged as well.

On the north side of Highway 10, according to Paper, the former Four Seasons (now El Tequila) the Wadena County fair grounds and the Merickel’s Lumber Mills building all suffered some damage.

Trees were downed in the fair grounds and many of the buildings are gone, and, Paper said, “There is not a tree standing in the Wadena cemetery,” which is south and west of the high school.”

Just before the storm hit, Mike Gibson and other high school alumni were meeting at the high school to register for the all school reunion, part of Wadena’s Summer Fun Days.

“We were in the Commons area (front entrance) until we looked out and saw how dark it was getting,” Gibson, from the class of 1960, said. They got the word to seek better shelter, and he said about 25 people “holed up in the boy’s locker room.”

They were lucky they did. One person who was apparently last out of the Commons area, with two stories of glass window, had shattered glass in his hair. “The whole roof of the school is gone. My vehicle outside was upside down. It just went end for end,” Gibson said.

Berndt Loween, also class of ‘60, now from Coon Rapids, had a close call. “I was trying to close the school door when suddenly the wind blew the doors wide open.” He made his way to the Commons area, where the electric doors shut off automatically. Moments later, the windows and doors (all glass) “all went pfooof-f-f-f,” he said.

Gibson’s SUV was one of several vehicles (including one with ‘collector’ plates) that were destroyed while parked near the school. Some were hit by the winds, while it appeared a large chunk of metal, probably from the Community Center roof may have rolled over others, damaging them beyond repair.

Near the school, Kayla Krause and her mother found their backyard trampoline a block away, wrapped around a utility pole, while their driveway was blocked by downed trees. Her father and brother were returning from a Twins game when the storm hit.

Damage reports from Wadena include:

o 26 buildings destroyed, 60 buildings with major damage, 91 buildings with minor damage and 91 buildings “affected” for a total of 268.

o High school has severe damage, Minnesota State Community College has significant damage and Wadena Community Center completely destroyed.

o Pool structure destroyed and city skating rink warming house destroyed.

o One city park shelter destroyed.

o Leaf River Ag business destroyed.

o One apartment complex partially destroyed.

o More than 60 vehicles totaled.

A tornado destroyed three, 500-foot turkey barns on a farm belonging to Terry and Janet Carlson, Parkers Prairie. The Carlsons had 25,000 turkeys in the barns at the time of the tornado and have estimated that over half of the birds perished.

Numerous homes and at least one farm had major damage in the Bluffton area, it was reported.

Citizens in need of clean-up assistance in Otter Tail and Wadena counties may call 218-640- 3432. This number is valid for both city and rural residents.

People looking to volunteer in the clean-up effort may call 800-543-7709.