At least three people died in rural North Dakota after tornadoes violently ripped through three states, tearing off the roofs of homes and threatening East Coast residents with a ‘ring of fire.’
Sheriff’s deputies were called to Enderlin, North Dakota, near Fargo, around midnight on Friday after two storm chasers said they found two deceased people.
Shortly after, a local fire department would find a third death nearby.
‘Deputies found extensive damage to the area and began conducting well-being checks on people with several partner agencies,’ the Cas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said on Saturday that two men and a woman were killed.
The department found other locals who were ‘shaken up’ after the roof of their home blew off.
A complex storm system wreaked havoc in parts of North Dakota, northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, with reported tornadic activity, large hail and strong wind gusts, Brian Hurley, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told AP.
The dangerous storms come as much of the nation is undergoing heat advisory, meaning as the high-pressure system over the Southeast creates a clockwise air motion, it could create a ‘ring of fire.’
Groups of thunderstorms happening around the edges of the pressure doom could create the effect, which causes extreme heat.
A complex storm system wreaked havoc in parts of North Dakota , northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin , with reported tornadic activity, large hail and strong wind gusts
Sheriff’s deputies were called to Enderlin, North Dakota, near Fargo, around midnight on Friday after two storm chasers said they found two deceased people. Shortly after, a local fire department would find a third death nearby (pictured: a downed tree in Grant County, ND)
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said on Saturday that two men and a woman were killed (pictured: North Dakota)
On Friday, heavy winds swept across localized areas of Minnesota, with wind gusts of up to 106 mph at Bemidji Regional Airport overnight.
‘I cannot ever recall hearing a rushing wind like that!’ Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince posted on Facebook in the early hours Saturday.
‘Emerged from our basement to find our neighborhood with lots of trees down and several homes with severe damage.’
Prince also said officials were responding to many knocked-down power lines and several gas line leaks.
Beltrami County Emergency Management said the damage to the Bemidji area is ‘extensive.’
Around 21,000 customers in Minnesota were without power, 20,000 in North Dakota, and 10,000 in Wisconsin, as of Saturday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.
Hurley said that same storm is traversing across parts of Michigan but is weakened. It will cross over lower Ontario, Canada, and back into the United States to hit upstate New York on Saturday night into Sunday.
‘Still wind and hail threat,’ Hurley said of the enhanced risk to upstate New York. ‘It doesn´t look like it´s going to be as robust perhaps as we saw last night.
The dangerous storms come as much of the nation is undergoing heat advisory, meaning as the high-pressure system over the Southeast creates a clockwise air motion, it could create a ‘ring of fire’
A sideways truck after the storm in North Dakota. Beltrami County Emergency Management said the damage to the Bemidji area is ‘extensive’
Downed trees in North Dakota on Friday after the storm. Around 21,000 customers in Minnesota were without power, 20,000 in North Dakota, and 10,000 in Wisconsin, as of Saturday afternoon
Almost 59million Americans are under an extreme heat warning Saturday, Hurley said, as the high temperatures combined with humidity push an above-average heat index for the Northern Plains and the Midwest.
Parts of Nebraska, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa could face temperatures ‘easily 20 degrees above normal,’ Hurley said, including some areas reaching the triple digits. It may be expected in July, he said, but it’s rarer to see in June.
‘A lot of these areas have been pretty cool with rain over the last month or so, so it´s going to be a little bit of a shock,’ Hurley said.
Cooling centers were open in cities including Omaha and Minneapolis as officials warned the public of dangerously hot conditions.
An additional 84million people were under a heat advisory as forecasters expect the extreme weather to migrate eastward toward the Great Lakes, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, where the ‘heat risk category is a four of four’ into early next week, Hurley said.
Meanwhile, parts of the Great Basin and the Southwest may be hot but are seeing relief from below-normal temperatures.