NEIGHBORS Brainerd Dispatch, Wednesday, December 29, 2010
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Tornado strikes Wadena, community responds
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By RENEE RICHARDSON Senior Reporter
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onths of planning went into a day of celebration in Wadena. Within seconds, it turned into devastation. Just after 5 p.m. on June 17, a stormy afternoon took a frightful turn as the ground rumbled with the signature sound of an approaching tornado. The multi-vortex tornado had wind speeds estimated at 170 mph. The twister was rated an EF4 by the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, the second-strongest rating of tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The tornado was 1.1 miles wide at its peak and traveled 10 miles before its destructive path ended. In its aftermath was sunlight, silence and stunned realization — about 20 city blocks were wiped out by the tornado in southwest and northwest Wadena. The National Weather Service quick response team determined the tornado touched down about 5 p.m. on that Thursday about three miles southwest of Wadena and produced a continuous damage path through the city before lifting about 5:18 p.m. seven miles northeast of the city. Thirty-four people were injured, one critically, though not with lifethreatening injuries, officials reported. As homes were lifted off their foundations, the city was dealing with a significant gas leak. An anhydrous ammonia leak was contained. By Thursday night, a door-to-door sweep was completed of every home. There were 268 structures damaged, including area businesses. Twenty-five families lost their homes. Damaged areas covered 20-25 percent of the city and damaged extended to farmland outside Wadena. In the hard hit areas of the city, pine trees were snapped in half, windows were blown out, chimneys torn
The Wadena tornado was 1.1 miles wide at its peak and traveled 10 miles before its destructive path ended. In its aftermath was sunlight, silence and stunned realization — about 20 city blocks were wiped out by the tornado in southwest and northwest Wadena.
from rooftops and crushed cars were left on their side or on rooftops. A debris field of family heirlooms and household items littered the cemetery in the city. Trees and headstones were toppled. Heavily damaged areas included the fairgrounds, community center, municipal pool and park, Leaf River agricultural plant and the Wadena-Deer Creek High School. Parts of the community center was wrapped around the high school like a metal blanket. In what would be its last act, the
high school — built in 1965 — sheltered school employees and graduates there to attend the weekend’s allschool reunion. About 20 to 25 people are estimated to have taken shelter in the school. Some suffered minor scrapes. Inside classrooms were blown apart. For the school, it would turn out to be a mortal blow. The building was damaged beyond repair. Demolition on school began Nov. 15. Building a new school will take two years. Thousands of volunteers helped
with cleanup efforts. Donations came in to help with rebuilding and tree planting. Federal aid was approved. In the aftermath, city officials worried about the economic impact, potential loss of jobs and population for the city of about 4,200 people. The recovery, after seconds of destruction, is expected to take years. RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 8555852.
Brainerd leads state in unwelcomed category — jobless By RENEE RICHARDSON Senior Reporter
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n 2010, Brainerd stood out among all cities in the state with populations of more than 10,000, but the category wasn’t one worth cheering. However, a $27 million investment in Wausau Paper’s Brainerd mill was welcome news and the company announced it was expected to provide long-term stability for jobs here. The aftermath of the Great Recession, which economists say began in December 2007 and ended in June of 2009, kept its anticipated path of a slow and painful recovery where the addition of jobs, slashed during the free fall, lags even further behind. For Brainerd, which has sustained doubledigit unemployment for 24 straight months, 2010 was another difficult year in terms of its jobless rate. Since 2001, the city had a jobless rate of 10 percent for a total of 17 months during a six-year span leading up to the start of the recession. Since the recession began in 2007, the city has posted a jobless rate below 10 percent only three times. And each of those months it was only just below the 10 percent mark at 9.8 percent or 9.9 percent. October’s statistics with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development show Brainerd had a labor force of 7,213 people with 886 of those workers unemployed for a 12.3 percent jobless rate. The city’s highest jobless rate in 2010 reached 19 percent in January with 1,393 workers unemployed. The Brainerd Micropolitan, which covers Crow Wing and Cass counties, had a labor force of 47,078 as of October with 3,705 people out of work for a 7.9 percent jobless rate. In 2010, the micropolitan’s number of unemployed workers reached a high of 5,448. It wasn’t uncommon to hear stories from job hunters who had been out of work
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Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
Wausau Paper is a bright spot of economic development in the area for 2010 with a $27 million investment into the Brainerd mill on the city’s northeast side. A rebuild of paper machine No. 7 was being conducted in two phases in February 2010. The mill employs about 190 people.
for a year or more. Earlier this decade, the jobless rate ranged from 3.5 to 4.1 percent across the seven county lakes area. All those facts and figures make the Wausau Paper investment in the Brainerd mill stand out as a bright spot of economic development. The
investment is expected to open up markets in the paint, medical and automotive industries, among others, as the mill produces a wide range of unsaturated tape-backing paper that is used to produce masking tape. The mill retains its ability to produce premium paper. Phase Two of
the rebuild project involving the No. 7 paper machine is expected in February. RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 8555852.