April 3, 1998 - The National Weather service issued a preliminary report indicating extraordinarily wide and long-running tornados were responsible for the damage in Comfrey, Le Center, and St. Peter on March 29, 1998. The review identified a total of seven seperate tornadoes which hit Brown, Nicollet, Le Sueur, Rice, and Dakota counties. Two, or possibly three, of the tornadoes were especially destructive "multiple vortex" tornadoes.
April 6, 1998 - Midday presents a broadcast of Grand Forks Mayor Pat Owens speaking to St. Peter residents at First Lutheran Church. Owens empathizes with St. Peter’s tornado disaster by reflecting on the devastating flooding that impacted Grand Forks the prior year. Program then turns to Vincent Harding speech on Martin Luther King, presented as part of coverage on 30th anniversary of King’s assassination, and his legacy.
April 7, 1998 - MPR's Mary Losure talked to kids at an afterschool daycare program for a child's eye view of the severe storm and tornado that hit St. Peter, Minnesota.
April 9, 1998 - Tom Gravelin, a cafe owner in St. Peter, shares his experience during and after a tornado hit the Minnesota town.
April 15, 1998 - As part of the series Remembering and Rebuilding - The Great Flood of 1997, a special Mainstreet Radio program from East Grand Forks, one year after the flood. Host Rachel Reabe interviews Pat Owens, Grand Forks mayor; Lynn Stauss, East Grand Forks mayor; Cliff Barth, Breckenridge mayor; and Morris Lanning of the Red River Basin Coalition about how people of the Red River Valley are putting their lives and their communities back together.
April 15, 1998 - As part of the series Remembering and Rebuilding - The Great Flood of 1997, a special Mainstreet Radio program from East Grand Forks, one year after the flood. Host Rachel Reabe interviews several business people and families who were affected by the flood…some who rebuilt, and some who moved away.
April 15, 1998 - A special Mainstreet Radio report from East Grand Forks, a year after the severe spring 1997 flood. MPR’s Laura McCallum interviews current and former residents of Lincoln Drive about their experience in the aftermath of disaster. Some have rebuilt; others have moved away.
May 19, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from the small community of Comfrey, Minnesota. Following the destructive March tornadoes that struck the area, Mark Steil talks with residents and local officials about recovery, rebuilding, and remembering. The topic of small towns in general and their economic health is also discussed.
June 29, 1998 - MPR’s Art Hughes reports on multiple storms causing havoc in southeastern Minnesota. An uncommon weather scenario flooded homes and roads in a weekend filled with heavy rains, high winds and rapid-fire lightning in southeast Minnesota.
July 10, 1998 - One more house was demolished in St. Peter. It was old...built in the 1860's...and in need of restoration, but still, it was someone's home until the March 29th tornado. MPR's Lynette Nyman interviews the owner, Tom Gravelin, as she follows him through the recovery. His business is back up...while his home has finally come down. Frequently referred to as the 1998 Comfrey–St. Peter tornado outbreak, 14 tornadoes (including an F3 & F4) wrought destruction in southern Minnesota on March 29, 1998. More than 3,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed by the tornadoes. The towns of St. Peter and Comfrey were utterly devastated. Storms left two people dead and dozens injured.