St. Michael Homeowner: "No Doubt it Was a Tornado"

The morning after a suspected tornado tore off the roof of the family garage, Terese Steinbach was surrounded by family and friends. 

"We're managing," she said, looking back at her home from her driveway. "It's kind of a waiting game now. We're working with the insurance company to see where we go next." 

The storm front that swept throught the Twin Cities between 7:30 and 9 p.m. last night dropped hail, heavy rain and even spawned a few funnel clouds. But the Steinbach home at 9540 42nd St. NE is the only one that looks like it was hit by a bomb. 

The National Weather Service is sending out an investigative team to determine if the storm was a tornado. Steinbach said she thought "no doubt it was a tornado." She was living in Albertville, on 58th Street, when that neighborhood was hit hard by a twister eight years ago. 

"It's really crazy," said David Reilly, who lives at 9545 42nd St., on the corner of 42nd and Jana Avenue. "If this - like they're saying - was like an F1 or even F0 [on the Fujita scale], then it kind of puts things in perspective when they're talking F-4 like down in Alabama or last year in Minnesota. This is a lot of damage." 

Trampolines were tossed around like toys. Swingsets, anchored by stakes, were no match for the funnel, which Reilly and Steinbach both said they saw before sirens sounded.

"I was standing with Dan [Steinbach] and another neighbor watching the thing come over. The kids had their bike helmets on and were kind of playing in the hail that was falling. Some of the boys were playing hockey with it and thought that was cool. But we looked up, and the thing just started rotating. And we thought, 'That's not right.' We told the kids it was time to get serious and get inside. Today, I've got two trampolines in my yard, and neither are mine. Mine flew up over the house and is in the Steinbachs' yard."

Within seconds, Terese, said, the entire ordeal was over. 

"Dan came running in and told me he had seen the funnel, and I had seen it from inside," Teres said. "I was just grabbing the phone to call the fire department to report it when the siren sounded. We went downstairs and got into the crawl space, and you could hear it coming. There was a roar, and then just a bang and a pop." 

Part of Reiley's fencing smashed its way through the Steinbach's living room window. Terese said that was the "pop" she heard. She told her two young daughters to stay downstairs while she and Dan went up to inspect the damage.

She saw the insulation, "like snow," in the backyard, along with debris. 

"We opened the service door to the garage, and the roof was gone," she said. 

Editor's Note: The City of St. Michael and the Wright County Sheriff's Department urge residents to stay out of the impacted neighborhood while residents clean up debris. Please respect their privacy.