Tornado Devastates Enderlin: Lives Lost and Power Outages in North Dakota and Minnesota

A devastating tornado tore through the rural town of Enderlin, North Dakota, claiming the lives of three individuals, as reported by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. Meanwhile, in Bemidji, Minnesota, severe damage was recorded due to wind gusts reaching 106 mph. This fierce weather event, known as a derecho, brought tornadoes and hurricane-force winds exceeding 100 mph across North Dakota and western Minnesota from Friday night through Saturday morning, resulting in at least three fatalities and a trail of destruction and power failures.

The tornado’s impact on Enderlin, North Dakota, was tragic. Deputies received reports of a severely damaged home from a tornado strike at around 11:40 p.m. on Friday. As emergency teams reached the location, storm chasers informed them of two people found deceased inside the home. Additionally, Enderlin firefighters discovered a third person who had died in a different area due to the storm. Meanwhile, another tornado was spotted near Eckelson and Urbana. Although the supercell remained north of Interstate 94, storm chasers reported some damage.

Adding to the calamity, the squall line brought winds far surpassing hurricane strength. According to the NWS, a private weather station near Luverne, North Dakota, recorded a 111 mph gust around 12:45 a.m. on Saturday, with Jamestown experiencing gusts of 80-90 mph for over an hour. As the storm moved east into Minnesota, Bemidji’s airport clocked a gust of 106 mph. An emergency manager in Bemidji reported extensive damage from fallen and uprooted trees damaging roofs and cars, leaving people trapped. “Extensive damage around Bemidji and much of southern Beltrami County” was noted on Facebook by emergency managers. They cautioned against non-emergency travel due to blocked roads and numerous downed power lines. Significant structural damage and several gas leaks were also reported.

The deluge of rain led to flash flooding in downtown Bemidji, causing vehicles to stall. “Additional damage was reported in southeastern Beltrami County due to thousands of downed trees blocking roads.” Fortunately, no injuries have yet been reported. At 8:30 a.m. CT, over 80% of the county was still without power, detailed by FindEnergy.com. “Residents should be prepared for prolonged power outages due to severe infrastructure damage.” Overall, FindEnergy.com data showed over 57,000 customers were without electricity in Minnesota at the outage peak, with an additional 30,000 power losses in North Dakota.