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photo by Eric Johnson
Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi drives past a home early Thursday morning that was damaged by Wednesday night's tornado in Austin.
PHOTO GALLERY and VIDEO: Austin wakes to tornado damage
Buildings toppled, trees uprooted
Originally published 08:39 a.m., June 18, 2009
Updated 10:49 a.m., June 18, 2009
Video
Video taken over Wednesday night and Thursday of the aftermath of Wednesday, night's tornado and storms. Watch »
The victim of major flooding and a devastating downtown fire in the past year, the city of Austin sustained another blow when a tornado touched down Wednesday night.
Some of Austin remains without power after the tornado grazed the northern and northwestern sides of Austin, hitting the Mapleview, River Oaks Golf Course, airport and Todd Park areas. Power lines were leaning precariously in many parts of north Austin. The power went out around 8:25 p.m.
Patrons at the Windrift Lounge on 11th Street Northeast, across from Todd Park, reported Wednesday night that one man inside an outdoor stage was flipped several times inside the structure before coming to a stop in the parking lot. The man was transported with minor injuries by ambulance to the hospital. Other minor injuries have been reported throughout town.
Power is still out at the Hormel Foods plant and both corporate offices in northeast Austin. Employees at these locations were asked to report to work two hours late today.
“It is anticipated power will be restored within the two-hour timeframe,” the company stated. Employees are asked to call the Facility Status Number at 1-888-401-4401 before leaving for work.
Todd Park sustained major damage, with trees uprooted throughout the area, and ballpark diamonds suffering damage to fences and dugouts. Residents returned to the park early this morning to retrieve vehicles abandoned when the twister barreled down on the park.
Victoria Peil was at the South Complex near 11th Street Northeast Wednesday night watching her brother, Troy Peil, play softball. They returned to the park at 5:30 a.m. today to assess her damaged, brand-new Mazda 6.
“Out of nowhere, it just started twirling,” Troy Peil said of the tornado. “We sprinted. It was like a stampede.”
Tenants of a home on 236th Street said they feel lucky a large tree fell away from their home.
"We were in the basement, but we looked in the back window, and there was a lot of wind," said Justin Molina, 13. "It just happened that none of the trees fell on the house."
A few members of the family of six were home at the time, but said their neighbors to the east were not home.
"We were lucky," said Sanjuana Molina, a Texas native who has experienced hurricanes. "We've never been in this kind of situation."
Residents in the area of 540th Avenue sustained most of the severe damage, with decks, garages and roofs destroyed, cars overturned and trees uprooted.
Mike Schuster, of 54180 236th St., said he was on his deck when the tornado came out of nowhere, bowing one side of his house and destroying his detached “toy garage.”
“Metal was flying and I said, ‘This is a tornado,’” said Schuster, who maintained good spirits despite the situation.
“When we came here there were no trees on this lot,” he said of their home, built in 1979. “Now there are no trees again.
“Nobody got hurt — could’ve been worse,” he said.
Other tornadoes were reported in the area, although damage was not nearly as severe.
A tornado from the same system was reported on the ground near Corning shortly after 8:10 p.m. As of 8:45 p.m., the tornado was said to be on the ground near Adams.
The National Weather Service was also tracking a tornado near Rose Creek at 8:34 p.m., moving southeast at 15 mph. It was expected to be near Le Roy and Taopi around 9:15 p.m.
A tornado was also reported on the ground east of Owatonna. Around 8:50 p.m. reports said the tornado was no longer on the ground and was moving east toward Claremont. At 9:10 p.m., a dangerous part of the storm was nearing Hayfield.
Many areas of Freeborn County lost power around 8:10 p.m., with power returning in 20 minutes.
The National Weather Service first issued a tornado warning for Freeborn County at 6:35 p.m. with the most dangerous part of the storm about four miles north of Freeborn moving north east at 10 mph.
U.S. Highway 218 was closed north of Austin due to downed power lines.
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Comments
Posted by Pixalina (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Good job on covering this story!
What is the building in the background of the picture of the tornado (the pic with the Sam's Club semi)? It says it was shot from I-90, and I'm wondering if the building is ComforCare nursing home. Also, did the truck stop across the freeway from East Side Lake, which is also by ComforCare, get damaged?
Posted by llmckee2005 (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 9:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes that is Comforcare Nursing Home. I do not believe the Truck Stop was damaged
Posted by Pixalina (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks for the info, limckee! My mother lives at Comforcare, so that was a tough picture to see. I also have other family in Austin.
I hope you all stay safe. I read that you're in for some more nasty storms this afternoon. I'm in the TC and we're also supposed to get at least one storm sometime today, though it isn't expected to be serious.
Posted by grammade (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't know how many times playing on a softball league at Todd Park we either got cancelled or had to leave quick coz of tornadoes, 1 thing I don't miss leaving Mn. are them.
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