Northwood Tornado Nearly Mile Wide With 150-Plus Mph Winds

Aug 27, 09:04 PM

Current Headlines: By Stephen J. Lee, David Dodds and Ryan Bakken, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

Aug. 27--NORTHWOOD, N.D. -- The tornado that left this community in ruins packed winds of at least 150 mph and was nearly a mile wide.

Greg Gust, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said he would rank the tornado that struck Northwood on Sunday night as an F3 or an F4, which means winds of 150 mph to 170 mph. He estimated the twister as wide as 0.8 mile.

"That's big," Gust said after surveying the scene today.

The width was the same as the deadly 1957 Fargo tornado, but was less intense. It was forceful enough to leave one dead, 57-year-old Larry Weisz, and 18 others injured. Weisz was a resident of the Valley View mobile home park on the north edge of town. His mobile home was flipped by the high winds, pinning him between the home and a large tree.

None of the injured sustained life-threatening injuries, according to sources.

Art Bilden, former long-time mayor of Northwood, said it appeared that nearly all 360 homes in Northwood suffered damage.

"The city is not safe now," Grand Forks County Sheriff Dan Hill said.

Gov. John Hoeven issued an emergency declaration for Northwood on today and ordered the National Guard to help with debris removal. He visited the community in the afternoon.

Kent Gronlie, a 1970 Northwood High graduate who brought a loader-tractor to help move fallen trees and other debris, approached Hoeven.

"We really appreciate all the help we're going to get because this community is really going to need it," Gronlie said.

Gronlie talked to Hoeven outside the recently remodeled Northwood School. The school sustained heavy damage that included a destroyed gym. An insurance adjuster estimated the school damage at more than $1 million. Classes were canceled all week.

Gronlie, who lives seven miles northeast of Northwood, said he found debris in his yard.

Recovery time uncertain

The time needed for recovery and a return to normalcy was uncertain on virtually every front.

Don Offerdahl, a 1972 graduate of Northwood High School, was in town as a spokesman for the North Dakota State Electrical Board, which oversees home wiring. He said it's too early to assess how many homes will need to be rewired before they can receive power again.

"It's overwhelming to see your hometown under so much damage," Offerdahl said.

Stephanie Yates, Mike Merfald and his son, Blaine Merfald, returned to their mobile home to find it destroyed. When they saw the devastation that left only one wall standing, Merfald turned to Yates and said, "We could have been killed."

They said they left the home five minutes before the tornado hit because of a warning telephone call from Yates' mother.

Equipment from Grand Forks and other communities were arriving to remove debris, which has resulted in many streets being impassable. Almost every tree in town was damaged, if not felled, by the high winds.

Many power lines were also down, resulting in electricity being cut off as a precaution. Generators were set up for the health center, which includes a hospital and 77-bed nursing home. Residents were moved into corridors before the storm struck and none was injured. Windows were broken on one side of the nursing home, according to nursing director Carla Sletten.

Amy Mastrud huddled with her three children in the basement during the storm. A tree fell on her house and all of the windows were blown out. "It's starting to hit me, the more I look at it," she said.

Roger Korsmo's family of five also went to the basement. "You could feel the tremendous pressure building," he said. "We were all very scared."

Businesses hit hard

With its high-profile location on N.D. Highway 15 and its prominent building, Agvise usually serves as a welcome sign for Northwood.

But the building of Northwood's biggest employer sat flattened Monday morning, now instead being a sign of Mother Nature's fury.

"This town is a mess. This town is a disaster," said Kevin Dean, a spokesman for the emergency operations center set up in the city's fire hall. "There is virtually nothing . . . that hasn't been damaged."

The tornado also destroyed two small mobile home courts that totaled 19 units, uprooted trees and damaged most of the homes and businesses. A grain elevator, nursing home and the city's only grocery store were among the damaged properties.

Barricades were set up to prevent non-residents, including media members, from entering the city limits. Authorities cited safety reasons for the ban on visitors.

Bob Wallace, CEO of Agvise, a soil testing laboratory, was dealing with damage to his business, damage to his home on Raymond Street and the death of Weisz, an employee.

The business, with 20 full-time employees and another 45 seasonal workers, is important to the town.

"(The business) is totaled," Wallace said. "I'll try to salvage some things, but there won't be much."

Volunteers were on the site of the wreckage today, cleaning up the best they could and collecting important business and personal materials undamaged by the storm. The west wall of the building was peeled away, exposing a row of offices ransacked by the tornado.

"We're just trying to decipher what we do next," Wallace said.

Next door to Agvise is an open field where auto dealer Krabbenhoft Chevrolet-Pontiac-Buick displays its vehicles. The tornado left the row of for-sale vehicles a mangled mess and threw some of them across the highway.

Mike St. Onge, with Alerus Financial, viewed the damage at the bank's branch office here. "Our building is fine," he said. "We got our generator up and going and we're letting it be used for disaster relief in the community." He said the office can be used as a relief shelter if needed.

The storm also heavily damaged the Guenther's Super Valu and the town's elevator.

St. Onge said that it's too early what the storm's long-term effect will have for Northwood.

Richard Wild, a loan officer at Northwood's Citizen's Community Credit Union, praised the strong disaster response from nearby communities. About 200 members of regional volunteer emergency response units were at the scene after the tornado hit at 8:50 p.m.

"The response is just tremendous," Wild said. "That's one of the strengths of our rural communities."

Northwood Mayor Richard Johnson said townspeople remain stunned. "I really don't think it's sunk in yet," he said, "but the spirit seems to be pretty good."

He suffered damage to his home and also lost at least 15 cars from his used-car lot. "But that's the last thin on my mind now," he said.

"We're all Norwegians out here. I guess we just roll up our sleeves and get to work."

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