tornado

By JEFF BAENEN, Associated Press Writer Jeff Baenen, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jun 19, 12:19 am ET
MINNEAPOLIS – Powerful storms across the Midwest brought heavy rain, strong winds and unleashed several tornadoes, damaging homes and businesses, tossing railcars off their tracks and knocking out power to thousands. In southeastern Minnesota, daylight Thursday revealed heavy destruction in the town of Austin, where vehicles were thrown about, homes were heavily damaged and power lines were knocked down. A few minor injuries were reported. Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm said it appeared up to five twisters had hit Wednesday night. The National Weather Service said one tornado on the north side of town was about 10 miles long and lasted for more than 20 minutes. The weather service said that at its worst point, the twister registered an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, meaning it generated winds between 111 mph and 135 mph.