Multiple tornadoes reported to have touched down in Rochester area
Dave Vetsch stood in his father's kitchen in Rochester, Minnesota, on Friday evening, overwhelmed with gratitude that his dad wasn't home for the moment when a tornado tore the roof off the house and shattered its windows.
"They say it sounds like a freight train and it did," Vetsch said.
Vetsch said he saw the tornado for himself. He was next door to his father's place with two of his sons at his business, Vetsch Hardwoods, when his kids said they had an alert for a tornado on their phones.
"We stepped out on the loading dock and holy smokes, there was one coming right at us," Vetsch said.
WCCO's NEXT Weather Team tracked reports of an observed tornado in the Rochester area near the airport on Friday afternoon. Neighbors like Vetsch off Marion Road are convinced that's what hit their neighborhood, destroying multiple homes.
According to the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office, there were no reported injuries. But the damage to residential property was extensive in this pocket of southern Rochester. WCCO's crew found multiple houses whose side walls had been torn down; multiple vehicles had been flipped or launched like toys; garages and sheds were leveled.
Seeing the damage at his father's house, Vetsch said he was grateful no one was hurt. His dad had moved to a nursing home last month.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, it was all hands on deck. Family members, neighbors, friends and total strangers were out in force with construction tools, fixing up what they could.
Jennie Murphy, who said her home only suffered minor damage, was out in her neighbor's yard clearing debris.
"I'm not worried at all. This neighborhood comes out and watches out for each other," Murphy said.
That kind of community spirit is comforting for people like Andrew Hawkins. Hawkins' father-in-law lost his home to Friday's tornado; the roof and the side of the house are gone, reduced to rubble. Hawkins said they were out of town at the time and initially found out about the tornado through social media.
"You always you know see it on the news and hear about it, to see it is another thing," Hawkins said.
According to Vetsch, the event lasted just seconds. The road to recovery will be far longer.
The National Weather Service says it will be sending teams to survey the damage in southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin on Saturday.
The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office says a temporary shelter has been established for those impacted by the storm at Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester, adding that public safety officials are securing the area and going door-to-door to assess damages.
