Preliminary assessment indicates deadly Enderlin tornado was EF-3

FARGO (KVRR) – The National Weather Service says a preliminary assessment of a deadly tornado that killed three people on Friday near Enderlin, North Dakota was an EF-3 on the Fujita scale.

But weather officials say the classification could change, as more information is obtained during their investigation.

The victims were identified as 73-year-old Michael Dehn, 73-year-old Katherine Pfaff-Dehn and 89-year-old Marcario Lucio.

Cass County deputies found extensive damage to the area and began to conduct well-being checks on people with other law enforcement agencies and first responders.

The Enhanced Fujita scale runs from 0 to 5 and rates tornadoes after they’ve hit by assessing damage to determine wind speed. Estimates are based on damage to trees, institutional buildings and homes.

The scale is named after Tetsuya “Ted” Fujita, an engineer and meteorologist who developed the original version of it in 1971.