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Aug 20, 2009 12:28 pm US/Central
Crews Assessing Storm Damage
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Damage in south Minneapolis at 48th Street and Park Avenue.
Jonathan DeYoung
The National Weather Service is sending out its damage-assessment teams to see if the damage to about 40 homes in south Minneapolis were from tornadoes.
The teams will also be checking damage at a middle school in North Branch and in St. Croix County, Wis.
Weather Service meteorologist Chris Franks said whenever there are reports of tornadoes, teams go out the affected areas to see if the damage is consistent with a tornado. He said the cause could also be strong winds or thunderstorms.
Franks said the teams could have an update as soon as Thursday afternoon.
Meteorologist Dan Luna said the storm in Minneapolis was the sort of storm that meteorologists dread -- it didn't look dangerous until it was.
"We worry about the really benign thunderstorm that develops a tornado in the metropolitan area," Luna said. "These short-lived ones form very quickly and dissipate very fast. They are very hard to predict."
The North Branch middle school was still sealed off Thursday. Wednesday's storm opened up the roof on the school, leaving falling ceiling tiles and water damage inside.
School district spokesman Patrick Tepoorten said it could be days until officials know the extent of the damage, but he said the district is committed to starting school on time. The first scheduled day is Sept. 8.
The middle school is home base for about 1,100 students. Tepoorten said all or parts of the building may remain closed for repairs even after the school year begins.
Severe storms also hit other places in the Midwest Wednesday. The NWS confirmed a tornado touchdown in Stanley, in northeast Iowa. There are dozens of reports of tornadoes across Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana as well.
In Illinois, at least 19 people were hurt and dozens of homes and businesses destroyed in the Springfield area. One person was injured when the wind flipped a car and another was blown off his motorcycle, said Roscoe Cook, nursing supervisor at St. John's Hospital in Springfield.
In northern Indiana, a storm tore the roofs from an apartment building and middle school gymnasium in Chesterton and damaged some nearby homes. Chesterton town manager Bernie Doyle said a tornado was suspected, but the National Weather Service had not confirmed it Thursday morning. No injuries were reported, Doyle said.
As many as four tornadoes may have hit northeastern Iowa. Along with the one confirmed near Stanley, National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Boyne said tornadoes were reported near Fredericksburg, Hawkeye and West Union.
Barns were destroyed and about 40 feet of roof ripped from a vacant poultry building north of West Union. Trees fell on homes near Hawkeye, Fayette County emergency management coordinator Mike McCloud said.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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