Stearns County Officials Say They’re Prepared For A Train Disaster

(KNSI) – Stearns County officials say they’re ready if a train disaster strikes like the one in neighboring Kandiyohi County on Thursday.

Twenty-two Burlington Northern Sante Fe train cars carrying ethanol and corn syrup derailed near Raymond. The crash led to the town of 750 people being evacuated at 1:00 a.m.

Stearns County Emergency Manager Erin Tufte told KNSI News that all area agencies constantly drill and have plans in place if they need to get people out. “The typical scenario that we use is about a half mile. But when you consider what’s within a half mile of the railroad tracks on the east side of St. Cloud, we have long-term care facilities, we have schools, we have lots of business, private residence, so a lot of people could be impacted if something were to happen on those tracks.”

Officials say getting people away from a disaster area would take about an hour. Tufte says they also have a plan in place to house evacuated residents. “We have about 20 different sites throughout the county that have been assessed by the American Red Cross to determine that they are good shelter locations. So we have things such as backup generators. We have kitchen facilities. We have restrooms and shower facilities, especially for those overnight stays.”

Many of the sites involve schools because they have facilities to care for many people.

Tufte says around 70 trains come through St. Cloud each day.

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