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Winds of up to 170 mph fueled the tornado
that swept through Wadena and damaged more than 200 homes last
week, yet it was the weakest of three storms that hit the area, the
National Weather Service determined Sunday.
     

 All three tornados are considered EF4s on the Enhanced Fujita
scale, which means they had estimated peak wind speeds of between
166 mph and 200 mph based on the damage they caused.
    

  But the Wadena tornado was the most damaging, leaving a trail of
destruction a mile wide and 10 miles long. It caused ripped through
a residential area and hurled several school buses hundreds of feet
through the air.
      

"All I know is that it was horrific," Wadena Mayor Wayne
Wolden, who rode out the storm in his basement with his teenage
daughter, told the Brainerd Dispatch.
     

 Displaced residents in southwest Wadena were allowed back to
their homes Sunday to make repairs or get personal items.
    

  The series of storms that hit the state Thursday killed three
people, injured dozens more and damaged hundreds of homes. Gov. Tim
Pawlenty declared a state of emergency in Faribault, Freeborn,
Olmsted, Otter Tail, Polk, Steele and Wadena counties.


      The tornado that hit the Almora-Bluffton area had winds up to
175 mph and did damage along a path measuring 1.3 miles wide and 36
miles long. It obliterated several homes and businesses. 


The
twister that hit Holmes, N.D., had peak winds estimated at 185 mph
and moved primarily through rural areas, severely damaging a few
structures.


      But the most serious damage was in Wadena, where officials
reported 232 homes were hit, and in a rural area just west of
Albert Lea in southern Minnesota, where about 60 rural properties
saw damage.


      The Wadena tornado made its initial touchdown about three miles
southwest of town around 5 p.m. Thursday, then moved northeast
before lifting up 20 minutes later about seven miles north of town,
according to a National Weather Service report released Sunday.


      The weather service called it a "multi-vortex" storm with
several funnel clouds pivoting around a common center. Based on the
damage it caused, the weakest of the funnel clouds packed winds of
more than 86 mph.


      Residents allowed back into their homes Sunday were warned to be
careful of branches and other debris and watch out for unstable
structures and trucks hauling materials around the area.


      "It's going like gangbusters," Wolden said of recovery
efforts. "The sun is shining, we're working hard and it's been a
happy Father's Day. Again, people are just so thankful for their
lives."


      Security has been tightened in the area and people who don't
live in the area have been asked to stay away, said city
spokeswoman Judy Jacobs. Gawkers have slowed clean-up efforts and
"there have been some cases of looting," she said.
    

  The weather service is still investigating other tornado reports
in the area. Weather service teams were assessing the damage caused
by the tornados in southern Minnesota on Sunday, but their report
was not finished Sunday evening.

Gallery

Pawlenty declares state of emergency in counties hardest hit by the storms

They came for a class reunion, and stayed for the cleanup

Timeline of Thursday's storms

3 dead as tornadoes tear across Minnesota

Winds of up to 170 mph fueled the tornado
that swept through Wadena and damaged more than 200 homes last
week, yet it was the weakest of three storms that hit the area, the
National Weather Service determined Sunday.

Weather Service: Wadena tornado winds hit 170 mph

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