Flooding threat lingers as storms rumble across MInnesota

Showers and thunderstorms were expected to linger in the Twin Cities metro area through today after a line of storms moved across the Midwest late Wednesday, resulting in several tornado touchdowns in southwestern Minnesota.

Severe thunderstorms moved north through western metro communities before 10 p.m. Wednesday, bringing hail, winds of up to 50 miles per hour, and over an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

The severe weather moved quickly through the metro area, meteorologist James McQuirter said.

Meanwhile, in southeastern Minnesota, flash flooding remained a concern after additional rain fell Wednesday night in areas that are still recovering from storms last weekend that flooded homes and washed out roads. A flash flood watch for southeast Minnesota was expected to remain in effect until this afternoon.

On Wednesday night, the Weather Service and local authorities reported several tornado touchdowns and damage in counties across southwestern Minnesota. No major injuries were reported.

The storms were part of a large, low-pressure system moving through South Dakota, Iowa and southwestern Minnesota Wednesday, McQuirter said.

The Weather Service said a trained spotter reported a tornado and building damage about 7 miles northeast of Wilmont, Minn., in Nobles County around 5:46 p.m.

Another spotter reported a tornado 3 miles north of Fulda in Murray County around 6 p.m., with debris in a field. And a spotter reported a tornado 2 miles north of Fulda around 6:05 p.m. A manufactured house was pushed off its foundation, and trees and outbuildings were damaged.

Terri Stevens lives in a small house without a basement near Fulda. When the weather hit with a vengeance around 6 p.m., she went for the nearest closet.

"Something hit the back of my head as I dove," Stevens said, shaking visibly. "Everything was loud."

Stevens hurt her knee as she tried to take cover. She was later taken from the scene by ambulance as firefighters and Murray County sheriff's deputies surveyed the destruction on her property.

Her house was ripped from its foundation, with a bathtub hanging out the back wall and pink insulation spreading across the yard. A tree came to rest on the southern wall, with the north wall being split open. Yards from the house, stuffed animals and other debris covered the lawn.

The Cottonwood County sheriff's office reported a touchdown about 5 miles north of Jeffers, or about 25 miles north of Windom, around 7 p.m. A dispatcher said it was spotted by a deputy who said it was on the ground for about a minute. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries there.

Elsewhere in Cottonwood County, a wind gust of 80 miles an hour was reported 4 miles south of Westbrook at 6:30 p.m.

The Brown County sheriff's office reported several touchdowns around 7:30 p.m. There was extensive damage to outbuildings at Ted Anderson's farm about 6 miles east of Springfield, Brown County.

Anderson said he, his wife, three children and house were fine -- as well as their 290 head of cattle.

But power lines to his cattle operation were down, and his cattle were up to their knees in the muddy mess. Neighbors who rushed to the farm put down hay to give the animals better footing.

Anderson said the storm lasted just a couple of seconds. He stepped outside and saw a tree go down, but it was raining so hard he couldn't see much else, so he retreated back inside. When he came out again, he said, he was shocked by the amount of damage.

Dozens of neighbors soon showed up with Bobcat loaders and chain saws to help clear away downed trees.

Brown County Dispatcher Carl Rolloff said he handled six or more reports of tornadoes touching down. Damage also included a turkey barn destroyed north of Sleepy Eye around 7:30 p.m. Large amounts of debris from the barn were found in nearby roadside ditches.

The fate of the turkeys wasn't immediately clear.

Flooding threat remains

Meanwhile, the Weather Service issued a flood warning for Mower County as residents of southeastern Minnesota braced themselves against the threat of repeat floods as more rain moves in.

Record flooding was forecast for Turtle Creek near Austin, Minn. The creek was expected to rise above its flood stage of 10.5 feet this morning and crest near 15.1 feet this evening.

The creek flows into the Cedar River in Austin, and minor flooding was forecast on the Cedar just to the north at Lansing, where the river was expected to rise above its flood stage of 18 feet by this evening and crest near 18.3 feet early Friday.

Briea Sigurdson, a dispatcher with the Mower County sheriff's office, said the Cedar River is Austin's main concern, but noted that the forecast called for a crest just barely above flood stage. Still, she also said it had been raining heavily north of Austin on Wednesday night.

"We've already started reading gauges, but as of now we're still a ways off" from serious flooding, she said. "We probably won't know until later tonight how fast they're coming up."

Rain-swollen rivers were going down in most of southeastern Minnesota on Wednesday, but may be on the rise again this morning after the latest round of rain, said meteorologist Brad Adams of the National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wis.

"We're hoping we're not going to have a repeat" of last weekend, Adams said.

The first round of flooding primarily affected two counties east of Mower County in Minnesota, and hit even harder in parts of Wisconsin and Iowa. It caused more than $2 million in damage to infrastructure in Fillmore County, according to a preliminary estimate, Fillmore County Coordinator Karen Brown said. That does not include damage to homes or farmland.

Preliminary flood damage estimates in Houston County are close to $6.8 million for infrastructure and $15 million for crop losses, said Kurt Kuhlers, Houston County's emergency manager.

The Root River crested on Tuesday near the town of Houston and in Preston and Lanesboro on Monday.

A cow goes flying

Also Wednesday, strong winds blew down a barn and reportedly sent cows flying through the air near Valley City, N.D., a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office in Barnes County said.

Elva Dittmer, 83, said she was looking out the kitchen window during the storm and saw what she thought was a cow flying 10 feet through the air. Her son Ronald Dittmer, who owns the barn, said one cow was hurt and another had to be euthanized.

"I've never seen it before and I hope I never see it again," Elva Dittmer said.

Staff writers Lora Pabst and Tim Harlow, as well as the Associated Press, contributed to this report.