Minnesota Winds Destroy 10 Homes, Damage Hundreds

One of a series of tornadoes that hit the Twin Cities metropolitan area touched down in this suburb Thursday night, destroying as many as 10 houses and damaging several hundred others, authorities said.

The wind damage in Maple Grove, about 15 miles north of Minneapolis, was estimated at $4 million to $5 million, said Irene Koski, assistant to the city administrator.

No serious injuries were immediately reported, but some people were reportedly cut by breaking and flying glass as the tornadoes swept through an area north of the Twin Cities.

“It got real black and it just sucked up debris from the ground,” said Troy Gobel, 20, a cook at Billy’s Lighthouse restaurant in Long Lake, where a tornado also struck.

More than six inches of rain fell within a few hours, and the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the area.

All flights at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were suspended at 8:30 p.m, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded, said John Ostrom, operations coordinator for the Metropolitan Airport Commission. “It’s a real mess out here,” he said.