Tornado confirmed in Hartland, Freeborn County

(ABC 6 News) – The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office said the National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado originated in the southwest corner of Freeborn County Wednesday evening, and traveled northeast, east of Alden and continued to Hartland.

The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office issued this press release Thursday afternoon:

The National Weather Service states a tornado originated 900 yards in the southwest corner of Freeborn County, traveled to the northeast, and east of Alden, then continued to Hartland. Their investigation showed the tornado caused the damage to Hartland. They have estimated the tornado to be an F1 (sic) or an F2 (sic).

Power is not yet restored to the city of Hartland and Xcel Energy will work through the night to restore power hopefully tomorrow. Clean up is progressing in Hartland and the Freeborn County Highway Department will assist tomorrow with large debris removal from the roads in town.

Freeborn Mower Electric has worked very hard to replace about 40 broken power poles on the east side of Freeborn County and Dairyland Power Cooperative is replacing 13 broken power poles in the west side of Freeborn County. An additional nine other broken poles are in Faribault County.

For those who don’t live in Hartland, or are working to help clean up, please continue to stay clear so clean up efforts aren’t hampered. Also, it’s still not a completely safe environment to walk or drive through.