St. Cloud Times from Saint Cloud, Minnesota • Page 1

Partly Cloudy I sr. Tornadoes crash into downtown Melrose1 OA 'If you hadn't screamed I'd be dead'1A Twister hits mobile home park, baby dies1A Clear to partly cloudy tonight and Friday. Low tonight mid-503. High Friday around 80. Winds light and variable tonight.

Sunset 7:50 p.m. Sunrise: 6:42 a.m. Sept. 4, 1980 I 2 ilw Tim Cfaa DSL a A Gannett Newspaper St. Cloud, Minnesota 56301 THURSDAY 25 cents 1 20th Year 71 Copyright 1980.

St Cloud Newspapers. Inc. in killer storm amaae mi kfc By Times Staff Writers A tornado tore into the southwestern part of the metropolitan area Wednesday evening, leaving millions of dollars in property damage, scores of families homeless, several people injured and one child dead. The unusual September storm sent thousands of people to huddle in their basements and other shelters. "We were sitting in the living room, and all of a sudden the windows blew out and the lights went out," said 4 Susan Jorgens.

"I was trying to grab the kids, but I couldn't find the baby right away." Jorgens made it to the main floor of her apartment building, Sundial II, with her children and neighbors huddled in the hall as a tornado roared overhead at 7:30 Wednesday night. Within minutes, they were homeless, along with scores of other people from Waite Park and Bel Clare Acres Mobile Home Park southwest of St. Cloud. By 9:30 p.m., a child was fatally injured, several others were hurt and hundreds of people had been evacuated to Bel Clare Acres and Angus Acres, a Waite Park housing development. Storm1 OA aa.

a. jV war AiuikM. mii tMHf ll mi mi i Times photo by Mike Knaak A tornado ripped through Angus Acres in Waite Park Wednesday night causing at least $1.5 million in losses and severely damaging 19 buildings. Terror reigned at Bel Clare Acres Tina's husband, Ron, was not at home at the time of the twister. He arrived at the home of her friend just after the phone went dead.

He rushed to the park find his home destroyed and his wife and baby in the hospital. Witnesses said that at one point a Bel Clare1 OA months, who was the only known fatality in the tornado Wednesday night that left seven others hospitalized. The girl was taken to St. Cloud Hospital, where she died at about 11 p.m. Tina was listed in good condition in the hospital today.

Four other park residents were also still in the hospital today. was just a storm so I closed the windows and I looked out the door. Then the phone clicked. I screamed for my girlfriend. Then all the windows blew out.

I must have landed across the street. I don't know. I was in shock and I was yelling for my baby. Otherwise I don't remember nothing." Her baby was Amy Hennen, 15 By BETH LINNEN Times Staff Writer Tina Hennen was holding her baby as she was talking to a girlfriend on the telephone. A storm was brewing south of them in Bel Clare Acres Mobile Home Park.

"All of a sudden it got really windy," Tina recalled this morning from her hospital bed. "I thought it Pi? i (J I i I 1 "I i I A Jvbt hi. i if S-" Lit ss-f Severe storm unusual for September By LISA WESTBERG Times Staff Writer Wednesday night's storm spawned a "family of tornadoes" in an unusual display of late summer turbulent weather, the National Weather Service reported today. The scattered reports of funnel clouds and tornado touchdowns led the weather bureau to conclude that more than one "parent" cloud was spawning funnel clouds during the storm, said forecaster Ed Martineau. Such a severe storm is unusual for September, he said.

Tornadoes and thunderstorms are more typical for early summer, he said. The lastconfirmed tornado in Central Minnesota was Aug. 14, 1978. The storm was caused when two weather systems collided. A cold front collided with warm, moist Gulf of Mexico air, and they started moving eastward at the same time, he said.

It was the classic setting for turbulent weather, he said. A total of four touchdowns were reported by the public or law enforcement officials, Martineau said. They were in Melrose, Freeport, Avon and Waite Park. Three funnel clouds were reported, Martineau said. They were in St.

Stephen, Waite Park and Foley. The weather service investigated the damage this morning at Bel Clare Acres and Angus Acres and confirmed that it was a tornado, not strong, straight line winds that caused the damage about 7:40 p.m., said Ralph Nistler, meteorologist in charge. "It looks like it was a tornado because the damage was selective. Wind damage tends to be more in one complete line. This seemed to be picking certain spots out," he said.

The tornado probably traveled about one mile in two minutes, Nistler said: It probably crossed through the metropolitan area in less than 20 minutes, he said, but Weather1 OA Times photo by Steve Wolt Dave and Patti Olson talked about the tornado that robbed them of their home Wednesday night. Their infant son, Christopher, slept. 'If you hadn't screamed I'd be dead' fil AIM mtmm t- fm( i as neighbors from the ravaged area of Waite Park crowded around her at the Waite Park American Legion late Wednesday evening. The Olsons' house is gone, except for two rooms, according to Patti's husband, Dave, 30. Many of their neighbors in the middle-income suburb of about 100 homes also were hit.

The Olsens heard tornado warnings around 7:30 p.m. and Patti took Christopher to the lower level of their Olsons1 OA By MARY LAHR Timet Regional Editor Eleven-month-old Christopher Olsen dozed in his mother's arms as she talked about the tornado that robbed her of her home in Angus Acres Wednesday. "It sounded like trains," said Patti Olsen, her voice shaking. "Then the windows started popping and the roof came in and everything flew around. In less than a minute it was gone." Patti, 28, muffled a sob in her hands Times photo by Steve Wolt A resident checked damage this morn- Angus Acres, ing at one of the homes destroyed in In the Times TODAY index Advice 6D Births 5B Bulletin Board 5B Classified 4C-9C Comics 7D Deaths 5B Editorial 4A Markets 10C People 1B Sports 1D Four Sections PRIMARY '80 A voter's guide highlighting next Tuesday's primary election races along with a list of area polling places may be found in today's Times.

See pages 1C through 3C. Storm hits Division9A Farm damage light8A Where to get help9A Photos of damage6-1 OA.