Metro area residents clean up after storm damage

(KMSP) - It was a morning to remember for many across Minnesota and western Wisconsin after a wicked storm hit between 8 and 9 a.m. Sunday.

By Sunday afternoon, people were already trying to begin the clean-up process after the damage.

Powerful winds left backyards like Denise Snyder's in Monticello littered with trees and debris.

“I looked out, and I could not see my back yard,” Snyder said. “The rain and wind and everything - it went straight sideways. I went and grabbed my mom, and we took off for the basement. It only lasted maybe 10 minutes. The grandkids’ swing set got tipped over, and the neighbor's fence. It took out our fence.”

Nearby, the roof was blown off the dugout at the Monticello High School baseball field, and parts of it ended up across the street.

This storm was unusual in the sense that it spared few parts of the region. On Lake Harriet, at least 18 sailboats were overturned and more at other lakes in Minneapolis.

At 48th and Penn Avenue, a tree fell on a vehicle. And, in St. Paul, two people were hurt when a downed tree fell around them and trapped them.

As the skies cleared, people began the clean-up process and found little surprises along the way - like a few baby birds in Monticello making it through the storm unscathed.

“I've never had damage from a storm like this before, so it's a little overwhelming,” Snyder said. “We're really glad we're all safe.”