Storm wreaks havoc in Hudson, Wis., rips roof off apartment building

A storm packing ferocious winds ripped off the roof of an apartment building Monday afternoon in North Hudson, Wis., knocked down trees and cut power to hundreds in the city and across St. Croix County.

More than 20,000 Xcel Energy customers lost power during the storm, but service had been restored to all but about 200 customers as of Tuesday evening, a spokesperson for the utility said.

The storm hit with little warning, residents said.

"A couple of rumbles in the distance, a little thunder, and then all hell broke loose," said Andy Robbins of North Hudson. One tree damaged his roof. Another dropped a thick branch on his orange 2015 Jeep Renegade, crushing it.

"It's just things," Robbins said of the damage.

Winds clocked at more than 60 mph along with heavy rain and hail damaged homes in North Hudson and Hudson. The roof of an apartment building on Lemon Street in North Hudson peeled away like the lid of a sardine can, with pieces landing on cars and insulation blowing through the neighborhood.

The North Hudson Village Hall also was damaged. No injuries were reported, according to Police Chief Mark Richert.

The wind ripped a 50-foot-tall pine tree up by its roots and knocked it into a maple tree in the front yard of Brittany Severance and Josh Stoltz; on Tuesday morning, they inspected their roof as the pine leaned precariously toward their house.

Severance said she was working from home on Monday afternoon when she noticed the wind pick up. She thought of her potted plants and had just moved them into the garage when a wall of wind, hail and sideways rain hit.

She screamed to her husband: "We need to get downstairs now!" The couple ran for shelter with their three kids, ages 6 months to 11 years.

The neighborhoods in North Hudson and Hudson that saw the most damage on Monday were hit by a massive hail storm last year, too. Severance said the insurance process from that storm was resolved just recently, and the couple saw a new roof installed just two months ago. Their storm gutters were only three weeks old.

"This was the scariest storm I've been through," Severance said.

At Bethel Lutheran Church in Hudson, workers were installing sections of metal roof on Tuesday morning, still repairing the hail damage from last year.

Representatives from the American Red Cross were at the Village Hall Monday night to help residents affected by the storms, the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office said. The Red Cross of Wisconsin was assisting nine families, or about 25 people, who lived in the apartment building and were displaced by the storm.

The North Hudson Board of Trustees will hold a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss tree debris pick-up and street sweeping, Richert said.

Monday's fast-moving storms popped up over the northeast Twin Cities metro with the first damage reports coming in about 2 p.m. on the south side of White Bear Lake. The storms moved east and south, producing downbursts with winds over 60 mph, said meteorologist Jake Beitlich of the National Weather Service.

Trees were also felled in the Rosemount and Farmington areas and hail 1 to 2 inches in diameter was reported in Hampton and Rosemount, the National Weather Service said. Storm damage was also reported in Blaine and Vadnais Heights.

Tuesday was calmer and hot, with temperatures reaching into the mid-90s. Another round of storms was possible Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, Beitlich said.