Multiple tornadoes tore through Olmsted County in southeast Minnesota on the afternoon of Friday, April 17, 2026, damaging more than 50 homes, knocking out power to approximately 2,500 customers and prompting the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners to issue a disaster declaration before the day was out.
As of Friday evening, officials confirmed zero injuries and zero fatalities, a fact that becomes more remarkable when you consider that among the properties the storm ripped through was one in Plainview belonging to an 89-year-old resident who walked away unhurt.
Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson addressed reporters at a press conference Friday evening alongside regional emergency management officials.
“Thankfully, at this time, there’s been no injuries reported, or obviously fatalities reported,” he said.
What Happened To Cause This Tornado?
The storms began developing in the early afternoon as a cold front advanced across the Upper Midwest.
The Storm Prediction Center had issued Tornado Watch #129 at 12:40 CDT covering southeast Minnesota, parts of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin, citing a highly unstable atmosphere ahead of the frontal system.
The first visual confirmation of a tornado in the Rochester area came from a Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic camera near Simpson, Minnesota, which captured an image of a funnel around 2:27pm looking northeast toward the I-90/Highway 63 interchange.
By just before 3pm the National Weather Service in La Crosse had confirmed a damaging tornado in the Marion area southeast of Rochester.
A second tornado was reported near Plainview. The sheriff’s office described “numerous” tornadoes striking the county across the afternoon, and the NWS announced it would send two survey teams into southeast Minnesota to formally assess and rate the damage in the days ahead.
Sirens rang across the region during the storm. People shopping near the South Target and Lowe’s in Rochester photographed a tornado visible in the sky.
Residents across the area sheltered in basements as warnings stayed active.
What Kind Of Damage Did The Storm Do?
Marion Township took the hardest blow. Sheriff Torgerson said approximately 30 homes were damaged there, including 12 with significant damage.
The remaining homes sustained varying levels of destruction ranging from minor to major.
A building off 50th Avenue Southeast was destroyed. Windows were blown out of a home on Gavin Lane Southeast belonging to Lance Dahl, a teacher at John Adams Middle School, who was sheltering with students in a school basement when the storm went through and received a call that his house had been hit.
Marion Road was closed into the evening because of downed power lines as crews from Minnesota Energy and People’s Energy Cooperative worked to restore service.
In Stewartville, the damage was visible across multiple neighborhoods. Roofs were damaged, debris scattered across yards, and trees came down onto homes.
Community members began cleanup efforts almost immediately, neighbors helping neighbors remove fallen branches, clear debris off sidewalks, and tarp damaged roofs before nightfall.
Workers were already repairing a home on Luella Place Northeast by late afternoon.
A man on Facebook showed a broken window at his home with multiple other damaged properties visible in his neighborhood footage.
Farther out, a tornado in the Elgin area flipped a semi-truck and caused damage to farms.
Hail fell across the region, with the largest reported stones measuring approximately 1¾ inches in diameter near northwest Rochester and Hayfield.
The total count as of Friday evening. More than 50 homes damaged across Marion Township and Stewartville.
An official final tally was still being assembled by county and federal emergency management officials when the press conference was held.
89-Year-Old Survives Without A Scratch
Among the stories emerging from the storm’s path is the one from Plainview, where a tornado ripped through the property of an 89-year-old resident.
The details of exactly what the storm did to the property were not released, but the outcome was the one that matters. the resident was not hurt.
In a storm that damaged buildings across a wide geographic area and left thousands without power, no one was injured. That fact, confirmed and re-confirmed by officials through the evening, is the number that defines the day.
It is worth noting that sheriff’s deputies conducted door-to-door checks across the affected areas after the storm to assess needs and ensure no one had been overlooked.
The process of confirming that zero number is not passive. It requires people going to every door in an area where power lines are down and roads are blocked and asking the question in person.
The Official Response
The Olmsted County Board of Commissioners issued a disaster declaration Friday afternoon as the extent of the damage became clearer.
A temporary shelter was established at Autumn Ridge Church at 3611 Salem Road SW in Rochester, with the sheriff’s office estimating 30 to 50 people could need to use it.
Residents were advised to bring medications, identification and essential personal items.
Personnel from Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Rochester Fire Department and the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office were deployed for door-to-door checks.
The American Red Cross assisted with the shelter. Deputies were assigned to remain in the hardest-hit areas overnight to provide security.
The sheriff’s office asked residents to avoid northeast Stewartville and the Marion Road Southeast corridor between 50th Avenue SE and 30th Street SE.
Within the city of Rochester itself, police department spokesperson Amanda Grayson confirmed no damage or injuries had been reported as of 4:30pm.
Residents with storm damage were asked to submit preliminary assessments through the county’s website or by emailing sheriffweb@olmstedcounty.gov.
The sheriff’s office said no additional volunteers were needed as of Friday night.
Power Restoration Efforts
People’s Energy Cooperative, based in Oronoco, reported approximately 2,500 of its customers without power as of 5pm Friday.
Crews from both People’s Energy Cooperative and Minnesota Energy were working to restore service, with Marion Road’s closure due to downed lines creating additional complications for that work.
Power restoration was expected to continue through the weekend given the scale and geographic spread of the outages.
Do Tornadoes Often Happen In Rochester?
Tornadoes are not common in Olmsted County. The Post Bulletin’s Answer Man column has documented that the last tornado within the city of Rochester itself came on June 4, 2019, an EF-1 that caused approximately $40,000 in damage with zero injuries.
The last significantly damaging tornado in Olmsted County before Friday came on June 17, 2010, with damage estimates reaching $1.9 million, and zero deaths or injuries then as well.
Friday’s event, with more than 50 homes damaged and a countywide disaster declaration, appears to be the most significant tornado outbreak in the Rochester area in at least 15 years by the measure of property destruction.
The NWS survey teams that will assess the damage in the coming days will provide the official ratings that place Friday’s tornadoes on the Enhanced Fujita scale, those numbers will determine whether state and federal disaster assistance becomes available beyond what the county declaration already activates.
For now, the cleanup continues. Neighbors are helping neighbors. Power crews are working through the night. And an 89-year-old in Plainview is fine.
