Minnesota storm kills 10-year-old
ROGERS, Minnesota (AP) -- A severe storm swept through this Minnesota town, killing a 10-year-old girl, damaging hundreds of homes and scattering debris across the city, officials said Sunday.
The girl was at a neighbor's house with her 19-year-old brother when the house collapsed on her about 10 p.m. Saturday, Police Chief Keith Oldfather said.
"The roof is in the basement," Oldfather said after an aerial view of the damage Sunday morning. He said between 200 and 300 homes sustained significant damage in Rogers, a town 26 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
"It's more severe than we thought," he said. "It just came out of nowhere and really did a lot of damage."
Seven other people were injured, and two remained hospitalized Sunday morning.
In Rogers, some blocks were devastated while others were hardly touched. Vehicles were crumpled by snapped trees and yards were littered with shingles and other debris. Garage doors were smashed and roofs and siding peeled off.
Many power lines were down and at one point Xcel Energy reported 10,000 customers without power.
The National Weather Service was viewing the damage to determine whether it was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds.
When the storm hit, the 10-year-old girl was with her older brother, who was baby-sitting two neighbor boys: 12-year-old Ryan Heibel and 6-year-old Jakob.
Ryan Heibel told the Star Tribune that everyone was on the first floor when all of the sudden there was a "huge boom." He couldn't see anything but felt a weight on him.
The boys' mother, Beth, could hear screaming and commotion when she listened to their voice mail messages on her cell phone.
The boys said they did not hear any warning sirens. Oldfather could not confirm whether sirens sounded before the storm, but he told The Associated Press they were going off when he arrived at the scene.
Rick Walz, whose house had severe roof damage, said the storm was over within minutes.
"It always happens to somebody else in Oklahoma, or wherever," he said. "You see it on TV, but until you stand in the middle of it, it's unbelievable."
