FARIBAULT, Minn. - Severe storms hit Minnesota Thursday, leaving homes, propane tanks and planes at a municipal airport damaged.
The National Weather Service is confirming at least two tornadoes, one in or near Granada and the other in Morristown. Radar data and spotter reports indicated that additional tornadoes likely occurred with the storms, possibly in Faribault and Waterville, south of Minneapolis. The Rice County Sheriff's Office said several small planes parked at Faribault Municipal Airport were damaged when high winds tossed them around.
Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn says a dozen homes in Morristown are uninhabitable, and in Morristown Township six residences and a number of outbuildings have been badly damaged. Boats and watercraft on Cedar and Roberds Lakes have flipped, damaged or blown away from their moorings.
An email from Cannon Falls Police says a significant portion of the community is without power, with a number of roads blocked by trees or downed power lines. A shelter is being set up at Cannon Falls High School to house residents from a local care center that was evacuated following a generator fire.
Some of the most striking visuals came from a farm near Cannon Falls. A Twitter post details the heartbreak felt by the family behind Far-gaze Farms, which suffered extensive damage to it's operation.
"Years of hard work and dedication blown away in a matter of minutes by Mother Nature right at the beginning of harvest season. Material things can be replaced but coming over the hill to the sight of the grain set up will always be the image I think of when I think of home."
Assessment teams from the National Weather Service are on the ground Friday morning in southeastern Minnesota, to determine whether the damage was indeed caused by tornadoes.
A curfew has been put into effect in the tiny community of Morristown. No one is being allowed outside their homes and residents are only allowed to enter town. Several southeastern Minnesota communities called off school for the day due to storm damage and power issues.
Xcel Energy was reporting thousands of power failures across the Twin Cities and in communities to the south.
In the Twin Cities the biggest problem was urban flooding. Storm sewers simply couldn't keep up with the deluge, leaving highways, local roads and intersections under water.