Warroad hit by tornado

[PCM]

Tonight, I received this e-mail and the photo below from Tim Oshie, father of UND hockey player T.J. Oshie:

Dear Friends & Family:

It is known for it's hockey prowess. Now, Hockeytown USA is officially tornado alley of the north.

Approximately at 7:05 pm tonight, a severe weather pattern spread across the entire Roseau County area. Warroad, located in the northeast corner of the county, suffered massive damage to Marvin Windows, The Trading Post and the city campground was decimated.

Campers were demolished and some even ended up in the Warroad River and lagoons.

The Trading Post, a Warroad landmark, was lifted into the Warroad River.

The electricity is out in the entire Warroad city limits.

My youngest son, Taylor and I, went to the Gardens Arena after hearing the sirens and a Tornado Warning given on ABC. After watching the tornado form for several minutes, I helped usher the townspeople, estimated at 800, into the lockerroom area of the Arena.

Chief Cudabeck, of the Warroad Police Dept., had me help escort the elderly and handicapped people into the rink. At one point, him and I carried a crippled man into the rink while the tornado was at its peak. We couldn't see two feet in front of us and the gust of wind blew me over twice.

I felt at that moment this could be it but the tornado didn't hit the Arena head on.

Marvin Windows suffered massive damage to the building and at least ten truck trailers, waiting to be loaded, were either upside down and side down. It looks like Tonka trucks on their tops.

More details will be given in the morning.

The area is a war zone tonight. There has not been any reported injuries or casaulities.

I've attached a photo taken by Pennie Newgard, TJ's girlfriends mom, of the tornado.

Osh

[redwing77]

Wow. That's simply astounding.

Too bad for the Trading Post. It's always a tragedy when a historical landmark of any kind is destroyed or severely damaged.

(I know this isn't exactly too sensitive of me but..) How come tornadoes always seem to find campgrounds and trailer parks? It's simply ridiculous!

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

WOW Thats incredible! I have been to the Marvin plant before and I know that it is a big cornerstone of Warroad. Well, I hope everything goes well there. And thanks for posting the news, PCM.

[nodakvindy]

Tornadoes are truly devastating. Hopefully the National Guard can get deployed quickly to help out. My thoughts are certainly with the folks in Warroad.

[Siouxmama]

I know we have at least 1 ss.com member that lives in Warroad. Hope all is well with Gopher Fan in Sioux Land, as he just moved "back home". I also have many friends at nearby Rocky Point, about 7 miles away, and everthing is fine there. Good luck to all in Warroad in their recovery process.

[iceberg]

I just talked to my uncle who lives in Warroad and he said the tornado was a block from his house

Golfball size hail. Some of the hail hit the ground with such force that it went 3 inches into the ground.

Now to survey the damage.

[dagies]

Wow. Best of luck to everyone in Warroad. This sounds nasty.

[siouxforeverbaby]

WOW! that stinks, my heart goes out to them. Hopefully people can band together to help them clean up!

[PCM]

The Grand Forks Herald has some good coverage here about the tornado that hit Warroad on Saturday. The Online Extra features a slideshow of storm photos submitted by area residents.

[PCM]

WCCO TV has some online video and a story on the F3 tornado that his Warroad Saturday evening. The report on KVLY said the tornado was a quarter-mile wide. Tim Oshie said it passed within an eighth of a mile of the arena where he'd taken shelter with many other residents. Given the size and strength of the tornado, it's very fortunate that nobody was hurt.

[redwing77]

WCCO TV has some online video and a story on the F3 tornado that his Warroad Saturday evening. The report on KVLY said the tornado was a quarter-mile wide. Tim Oshie said it passed within an eighth of a mile of the arena where he'd taken shelter with many other residents. Given the size and strength of the tornado, it's very fortunate that nobody was hurt.

Bolded is a GOOD thing.

[PCM]

Another report from Tim Oshie:

For Immediate Press Release

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Nisswa, MN:

Warroad Will Survive

By: Timothy Oshie

It was like waking up from a bad dream last Saturday night as an F-3 Tornado ravaged this quaint, little town of Warroad, Minnesota.

As I was watching television on Saturday afternoon, I noticed a severe thunderstorm warning given to Pembina County in North Dakota. Little did I realize that this storm is what brought havoc and harm to Warroad later that night and will always remain as a day to remember.

To remember.

My youngest son, Taylor, and I, went to the Gardens Arena after hearing the sirens and a Tornado Warning given on Grand Forks station, WDAZ-Channel 8. When we arrived no one had yet been there so we decided to take a spin closer to Salol where reports on KQ-92 mentioned potential funnel clouds just a few miles north. Curious, yet cautious, we made it as far as North Country Convenience before realizing the storm was fast approaching Warroad. A hail storm had us scurrying back on Highway 11 east.

Once in town, we decided to park at the Dairy Queen and watch the incredible cloud formations and changing skyline. We continued watching until we noticed a couple vehicles entering the Gardens Arena parking lot. At that point I knew in my heart a twister was inevitable.

We drove to the arena where Warroad Police Chief Cudaback was opening the doors and preparing the facility as an evacuation site. Once we were inside the actual arena portion, the journalist in me had us opening the doors behind the office to get another view of the developing cloud formations. Within minutes, hundreds of people were gathering as the clouds kept getting darker and darker.

After watching the tornado form for several minutes just northwest of the arena, I, along with Arena Manager, Jude Boulianne, helped usher the townspeople into the locker room tunnels of the Arena. It was chaos getting the people to quit watching the sky but finally, they too, realized something imminent was about to happen.

Finally, everyone was inside the friendly confines of The Gardens Arena. Yet, scores of vehicles kept arriving as the winds starting swirling in the parking lot and hail and rain came down in sheers. As I looked out from the lobby to the parking lot, I couldn

[Gopher Fan in Sioux Land]

Thanks guys for all the kind words. Cleanup has been going good, most of the point area has the majority of the Debris picked up (as of yesterday when I was up at the "point") The twister went right through Pepsi's (where i work) back parking lot, flipping over the dumpster and tipping out all the vending machines outside. Both overhead doors to the warehouse were blown out but for the most part the building took it really well. there are more pics on KQ92's website

www.kq92.com and then click on "Pictures"