March 31, 1998 - State legislators lost no time responding to Sunday night's storm damage. A Senate committee has already passed one piece of disaster-relief legislation, and more relief is in the works. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste reports: Only sixteen hours after the last twister pulled back into the sky, a Senate committee voted for what amounts to a blank check for the devastated communities. The Senate Government Finance Committee approved what legislators call a "placeholder" -- legislation to dole out an unspecified amount of money to local governments in the stricken counties. For now, senators are guessing the state will have to spend $
March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Bill Catlin traces path of the storm that devastated farms and towns in southern Minnesota. Reports includes firsthand accounts of the storm and tornadoes.
March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Lynette Nyman provides an on-location report of the tornadoes that destroyed large parts of St. Peter and Comfrey.
March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Mark Steil provides an on-location report detailing the aftermath of tornados that devastated Comfrey, Minnesota.
March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Eicthen takes a listener call who describes a harrowing in-person experience of the tornado that struck the town of Comfrey, Minnesota.
March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Art Hughes provides an update on status in St. Peter, two days after Minnesota town was hit by devastating tornados.
March 31, 1998 - Dennis Gimmestad, member of the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office, comments on tornado damage to historic buildings in St. Peter.
March 31, 1998 - MPR’s Perry Finelli interviews Greg Aune, choral director at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, as he describes the scene after tornado hit the town. Like other parts of town, Gustavus Adolphus College was severely damaged, including the chapel...which lost its 137-foot spire. Aune says the campus has been transformed.
April 1, 1998 - Southern Minnesota extension officials say Sunday's tornadoes damaged more than 200 farms. Dairy farmers have been especially hard hit. In Brown County dairy farmers are scrambling to care for their cows, which must be milked twice a day. With barns destroyed and electricity out, some are selling their herds. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: Brown County extension director Wayne Schoper says 140 farms were damaged as the tornado cut a 30 mile long path through the southern part of the county. The storm is causing the most immediate hardship for dairy farmers. If cows are not milked regularly their udders' may get infected, possibly ending their milk producing days for good. Schoper says some farmers h
April 2, 1998 - MPR’s Cara Hetland reports that the tornadoes in Comfrey and St. Peter has brought memories back for the residents of Chandler in southwest Minnesota. A tornado in 1992 wiped out nearly all of the town. They have rebuilt their town and gone one with their lives but the memories and emotions are still strong.