ENDERLIN, N.D. (AP) \u2014 Powerful winds \u2014 including a tornado \u2014 that swept across parts of the upper Midwest left three people dead and a regional airport heavily damaged, while nearly 150 million Americans were under a heat advisory or warning as the weekend warms up much of the U.S. <\/p>\n
A complex storm system wreaked havoc in parts of North Dakota, northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, with reported tornadic activity, large hail and strong wind gusts, according to Brian Hurley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service\u2019s Weather Prediction Center.<\/p>\n
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said at a press conference Saturday that two men and a woman were killed at two separate locations around the town of Enderlin, North Dakota, late Friday. Enderlin is about 57 miles (92 kilometers) southwest of Fargo. About 24,000 customers were without power in North Dakota. <\/p>\n
Hours earlier in a post on the social media site X, the National Weather Service in Grand Forks said two deaths were attributed to a tornado that hit a home.<\/p>\n
Tornado confirmed by National Weather Service<\/p>\n
Timothy Lynch, lead forecaster with the NWS office in Grand Forks, said the storm had been confirmed as a tornado, but that crews were still working to determine its strength and highest wind speeds. He said the storm impacted the neighboring counties of Cass and Ransom. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have people out investigating and gathering information on what happened. It was a pretty major event,\u201d Lynch told The Associated Press on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Heavy winds also swept across localized areas of Minnesota. The NWS reported wind gusts of up to 106 mph (171 kph) at Bemidji Regional Airport overnight. <\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot ever recall hearing a rushing wind like that!\u201d Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince posted on Facebook in the early hours Saturday. \u201cEmerged from our basement to find our neighborhood with lots of trees down and several homes with severe damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prince also said officials were responding to many knocked down power lines and several gas line leaks. Beltrami County Emergency Management said the damage to the Bemidji area is \u201cextensive.\u201d Many Bemidji-area businesses posted on social media Saturday saying they were without power and closed for the day.<\/p>\n