Tornado

hits

Buffalo

Lake

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

BUFFALO LAKE -- Downed power lines, heavily damaged buildings and unidentified injuries were left in the path of the tornado that hit this town Tuesday evening.

It touched down around 8:45 p.m. and appeared headed for Stewart just before it changed path and hit Buffalo Lake, dissipating by 9:30 p.m., according to the McLeod County Sheriff's Department

The damage left the town of approximately 800 people without electricity and forced local authorities to close all roads leading into the town with the exception of U.S. Highway 212, which was reopened after the weather subsided.

Emergency medical crews from several communities in southcentral Minnesota went to the town to help. The extent of the injuries was unknown as 10 p.m.

Other tornadoes touched down south of the town of Kandiyohi and north of Gibbon around the same time. No information on damages or injuries was available.

According to the Associated Press, the tornado that hit Buffalo Lake was three-quarters of a mile wide and was on the ground for 30 minutes, destroying a grain elevator and the town's post office and taking the roof off one Lutheran church.

Emergency crews were making house-to-house checks in an effort to look for more victims one hour after the storm hit, the Associated Press reported.

On the outskirts of town, the Buffalo Lake Nursing Home was spared. All 48 residents and staff members were fine Monday night, an employee said, according to an AP report.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty ordered 30 soldiers from the 682nd Engineer Battalion from the Hutchinson National Guard base to report for duty in Buffalo Lake by midnight Tuesday. More troops could be sent Wednesday from a base in Rosemount, according to a news release.

Roughly 50 tornado watches were issued for several southern Minnesota counties, said meteorologist Amanda Brandt of the National Weather Service.