page_title: 1998 Comfrey–St. Peter tornado outbreak
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: 1998 Comfrey–St. Peter tornado outbreak / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: Tornado damage near Comfrey, Minnesota
context_page_description: The 1998 Comfrey–St. Peter tornado outbreak was an unseasonably-strong tornado outbreak which affected the Upper Midwest region of the United States on March 29, 1998. A strong area of low pressure combined with a warm front and favorable upper-level dynamics to produce 16 tornadoes across the region—14 in Minnesota and two in Wisconsin. Thirteen of the tornadoes in Minnesota were spawned by a single supercell thunderstorm. This supercell remained intact for approximately 150 miles as it moved across the southern part of the state during the late-afternoon hours.
  Over $235 million in damage was recorded from the tornadoes, two people were killed, and 21 others were injured. Most of the damage was caused by three tornadoes—one rated F4 on the Fujita scale that hit the town of Comfrey, Minnesota, an F3 that hit St. Peter, Minnesota, and an F2 that hit Le Center, Minnesota. Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter was especially hard-hit, with several buildings damaged or destroyed, 2,000 trees lost, and nearly 80% of the windows on the campus shattered. In Comfrey, 75% of the structures in the town were damaged or destroyed, including the local K–12 school.
context_section_description: On April 1, 1998, seven counties in Minnesota were declared federal disaster areas: Brown, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Rice, Cottonwood, Blue Earth and Nobles. The money allotted from the federal government allowed the affected towns to clean up the damage and begin the rebuilding process. In addition to the federal dollars, the state of Minnesota contributed $27.6 million to the cleanup and rebuilding effort, with $1.35 million designated specifically for the preservation of the historical buildings in St. Peter. Most of St. Peter's buildings that were on the National Historic Register were damaged, but only one—a French Second Empire school building built in 1871 (St. Peter Central School)—had to be demolished. Three years after the tornado, the City of St. Peter reported that its population had grown by 2%; an unusual feat for a town that had so recently endured a natural disaster.
  Damage to the Gustavus campus was estimated at nearly $60 million. Despite 33 of the 78 of the classrooms not being ready for use, the college re-opened three weeks after the tornado. Following the storm, a major concern for the college was that the student base would be eroded. To prevent that from happening, every returning and graduating student was given a $3,000 check by the college. In addition, the school sent out letters and made phone calls to all 2,000 applicants within 10 days of the disaster. The 735 new students who reported to Gustavus the following fall comprised the largest incoming class in the school's history. After a summer of repairs, the symbolic end to the rebuilding process on campus occurred on October 22, 1998, when a new 175-foot (53 m) spire was placed atop the chapel.
  Following the tornado in Comfrey, residents were forced to temporarily evacuate the town due to several gas leaks, and the Minnesota National Guard was called in to help secure the area. Because the town's K–12 school was destroyed, students resumed classes two weeks later 20 miles (32 km) to the north in Sanborn. Since many Comfrey residents were displaced to nearby towns, school buses from Comfrey drove to each town to provide children transportation to the school in Sanborn. To help stock their classrooms, the school used equipment and supplies that had been salvaged from the damage as well as items that had been donated.
  Immediately following the tornado in Comfrey there was uncertainty about the town's long-term survival. Then in the week following the tornado the town decided to rebuild the school, and as a result most of Comfrey's businesses decided to follow suit. Ground was broken on the new school early the next year, and it opened to students on October 4, 1999. The population of Comfrey is down to 367 from the 425 it was when the tornado hit.
  Official U.S. government totals gathered in the months following the disaster state that the tornadoes caused $235 million in damage, however later estimates put the total much higher, including over $300 million in St. Peter alone. Additionally, over $800,000 in hail and downburst damage was reported over South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
  For the 13 tornadoes that touched down from the parent supercell in southern Minnesota, the Twin Cities and Sioux Falls NWS offices issued tornado warnings an average of 15 minutes before the warned areas were hit. Because of above-average lead time for the warnings, and for excellence in forecasting the entire event, a bronze medal was issued to the Twin Cities NWS office the following December by the United States Department of Commerce.
caption: A house in rural Brown county completely swept from its foundation by the Comfrey F4
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