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3 people dead after North Dakota tornado; 34,000 Minnesotans without power after storms
Three people are dead and a regional airport was heavily damaged after powerful winds, including a tornado, swept across the upper Midwest.
ENDERLIN, N.D. — Powerful winds — including a tornado — that swept across parts of the upper Midwest left three people dead and a regional airport heavily damaged, officials said Saturday.
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said at a press conference that two men and a woman were killed at two separate locations around the town of Enderlin, North Dakota, late Friday. Enderlin is about 57 miles (92 kilometers) southwest of Fargo. About 24,000 customers were without power in North Dakota.
Hours earlier in a post on the social media site X, the National Weather Service in Grand Forks said two deaths were attributed to a tornado that hit a home.
Timothy Lynch, lead forecaster with the NWS office in Grand Forks, said the storm had been confirmed as a tornado, but that crews were still working to determine its strength and highest wind speeds. He said the storm impacted the neighboring counties of Cass and Ransom.
“We still have people out investigating and gathering information on what happened. It was a pretty major event,” Lynch told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Heavy winds also swept across localized areas of Minnesota. The NWS reported wind gusts of up to 106 mph (171 kph) at Bemidji Regional Airport overnight. An emergency manager there reported extensive damage from falling trees and cars with people trapped inside.
Beltrami County Emergency Management said the damage to the Bemidji area is “extensive” and that scores of power lines were down.
“Please do not travel unless it is an emergency. Many roads are blocked and there are a ton of power lines down. Unfortunately there is significant structure damage as well. We are responding to many gas leaks,” the agency said in a Facebook post early Saturday.
Nearly 34,000 customers in Minnesota were without power, according to poweroutage.us.
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