Helping hands in Hugo

Dan and Tina Roeser spent Saturday doing what they've been doing all week -- picking through the pieces of their tornado-damaged house in Hugo. ¶ This time, as they dug through the rubble, they kept an eye out for one item in particular -- a favorite wedding photo. ¶ "It's under the living room wall, we think," Dan Roeser said. "We're hoping it will pop up." ¶ The Roesers had help Saturday as hundreds of volunteers descended on the tornado-ravaged neighborhoods of Hugo for a big tornado cleanup. They hauled hot tubs and wood siding and helped families like the Roesers search for precious keepsakes.

By midday, about 750 volunteers had shown up, with more arriving. They made better-than-expected progress, said City Council member Chuck Haas. In fact, they had completed work in 11 of the targeted 16 neighborhood work zones by early afternoon.

"It looks like a neighborhood again," he said.

City officials were expecting between 800 and 1,000 volunteers on Saturday and were prepared to turn people away if more showed up.

Even before the doors opened at 8 a.m., about 500 volunteers swarmed in front of the Washington County Service Center in Forest Lake. Faith groups, corporate teams, school groups and others formed lines that spilled onto the sidewalk. People came from as far away as Faribault and Almena, Wis.

"Hugo is grateful for the remarkable outpouring of support," Haas said.

Each volunteer carried a trash bag and a large zip-lock bag to collect personal belongings they found.

Down the street from the Roesers, Dan McKeague was searching for his wife's ring. It was a family heirloom, he said, having been passed down to Kristen McKeague by her grandmother.

All that's left of their house is the lower level.

They have unearthed a few prized possessions, such as their 8-year-old son Jack's mounted walleye -- the one he caught while fishing with his grandpa. And a firefighter called to say he'd found the family's Social Security cards a mile away in a field.

Businesses in Hugo and elsewhere sent teams of volunteers and donated supplies for the big cleanup. Lowe's gave wheelbarrows, for example, and Grundhofer's Old Fashioned Meats hosted a Hugo Relief BBQ Fundraiser on Saturday.

The Salvation Army provided food and water to the volunteers and First Student offered six school buses to transport volunteers 3 miles from Forest Lake to Hugo and back when they were finished.

"It's overwhelming, all the people who are helping," said Tina Roeser. Her house had three bedrooms and four bathrooms and she loved living in it, she said, watching the volunteers climb over a heaping pile of insulation and wooden framing.

They resembled an army of ants crawling over hills and worked at a blinding pace to clear the rubble.

Two hours later, the Roesers' front yard was visible again.

One of the volunteers found a $50 check. Tina Roeser thanked her with a high-five.

By late afternoon, though, there was still no sign of the missing wedding photo.