WILLMAR, Minn., July 12 (UPI) -- Authorities were assessing damage Saturday after a tornado struck near Willmar, Minn., destroying three homes and cutting a nine-mile swath of destruction.
The Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office said the tornado hit 11 homes, destroying three of them and damaging eight others in the small western Minnesota city, located 95 miles west of Minneapolis, the (Willmar, Minn.) West Central Tribune reported.
The twister struck at dusk Friday and hit a commercial turkey-processing facility, lifting two turkey barns off the ground. Most of the 6,000 turkeys were unscathed and were still sitting within the rectangular formation of the barn a half-hour after the tornado hit, the newspaper said.
The roof of another turkey barn across the highway was torn off and two unidentified workers there reportedly were injured and taken to Rice Memorial Hospital by ambulance. The hospital told the Tribune that only one injury related to the tornado, and that patient was treated and released.
