CROSBY, Minn. — Residents in north-central Minnesota are cleaning up after powerful storms thrashed several communities Wednesday evening.
National Weather Service Duluth released preliminary information Thursday evening confirming "several tornadoes caused damage across parts of north Minnesota." The report says a tornado occurred near Wright, Minnesota, and that at least one touched down in Crow Wing and Aitkin Counties.
"The NWS has not yet determined if the damage in Crow Wing County and Aitkin County is all from a single continuous tornado or if there were several tornadoes," the report reads.
The report goes on to say that there was extensive tornado damage on Cedar Lake and Hammal Lake in western Aitkin County, and damage on Rabbit Lake near Crosby in northern Crow Wing County.
KARE 11 crews found trees snapped and toppled onto homes and property along Rabbit Lake. Video shows RVs and pontoons flipped upside down, and docks broken and submerged.
"Nobody got hurt. That's the big thing. It's a mess. It's going to be a big mess to clean up but it can all be replaced. It's just going to take time," said Kevin Vogel.
Vogel and his wife, Jackie Vogel, have property on Rabbit Lake — just off Highway 6 near Crosby. The couple lives in St. Michael but spends nearly every weekend in the summer at the lake. They've had the property for four years. Nearly ever tree is now down.
"Started just kind of landscaping it ourselves and making it our own and then this happens. So starting all over again," Vogel said.
Downed trees also took out their camper and pontoon.
Their neighbors, the Zimmermans, also have extensive damage — including a tree on their cabin's roof.
Molly Zimmerman was home with her kids, Graham, 10, and Keira, 6, when a tornado came through. The cabin does not have a basement so they had to hunker down in a crawl space.
"I just had one arm around each kid and just prayed," Molly recalled.
More than 15,000 people statewide lost power, including nearly 7,000 customers near St. Cloud. Power has since returned for most people, according to power companies across Minnesota.
*This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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