Kevin Kennedy Associates' President assists with local tornado cleanup.

Randy Clarksean had been in Indianapolis working with staff, and received an unfortunate phone call from home in Minnesota about the devastating tornadoes that had struck the area. Three EF4 (enhanced Fujita Scale - winds from 166 - 200 mph) tornadoes touched down around 5 pm on Thursday, June 17th 2010 in the Wadena, Minnesota area.

The storms were short lived, but the damage will remain for years. The local high school was severely damaged, school buses hurled several hundred feet through the air, over 200 homes and other building structures were severely damaged. Randy's home and family were untouched by the tornados, but friends throughout the area were hard-hit.

A family friend of Randy's lived in one of the apartment buildings that was partially destroyed by the storm. The roof of her second story apartment was off, insulation had fallen onto all of her possessions, and rain was forecast for the next couple of days. Her possessions needed to be moved quickly to prevent additional damage. A staff member at Trinity Luther Church in New York Mills, MN started placing calls for assistance. On short notice she was able to find 31 people, including Randy, to assist with the move. The storm struck Thursday night - she was safely in a new apartment by Saturday afternoon.

The photos shown below are just a small sampling of the devastation throughout the area. Hundreds of volunteers from surrounding communities and across the state responded to the call for assistance.