Minnesota Weather: Tornadoes, Storms Wreak Havoc In Southern Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms roared through southern Minnesota Thursday evening.

The storm passed through quickly, but packed a punch. It fizzled out as the sun set for the evening. There will be much to clean up Friday morning.

One big storm swept more than 100 miles from Cottonwood to South Branch, bringing with it tornadoes, hail and lots of rain.

A Minnesota mother who caught a tornado on camera spent this evening worried about what it was hitting. Rondi Kodet's kids were home alone when it touched down.

"It's pretty crazy what can happen in a few seconds," Kodet said.

She was driving to an appointment in Wabasso when she looked out her window and saw a tornado.

"And I'm like, 'Holy cow, like this is real live, it's coming, we're right here, it's heading towards our house. What do we do?'" she said.

Her biggest worry: Her kids.

"My daughter was at home, in the barn, by herself. She's 12, and she had no idea, like, that anything was happening," Kodet said.

Her older daughter raced home, got her sister to the basement, found a safe space and covered up with blankets. In town, it was a different story.

"Went into the gas station to seek shelter and nobody was worried about it. Everybody was standing at the counter, paying for their gas, no biggie," Kodet said. "And I'm like, 'OK you guys, there is a tornado like literally two miles out there."

The tornado didn't hit Kodet's house, but a neighbor's home was damaged.

"There is one evergreen tree uprooted and I can clearly see the roots. Their house is sprayed and there's some damage to the siding, there's a window broken," Kodet said.

The night ended with no one hurt, but scary memories that will last a lifetime.

"I'm better now that the storm passed!" she said.

Kodet got to her farm to find that a storm wiped out her field. Before she headed home, she helped clean up the wreckage left behind at her neighbor's house.

Many of our WCCO Weather Watchers and viewers sent in some incredible pictures and video of the storms that plowed through central Minnesota. Paul Daub said his family was about a mile away from this tornado in Wabasso.

Others told us of this Jennie-O turkey barn, flattened in the storm along Highway 60 in St. James.

Jennie-O says no employees were hurt, and their team is on site taking care of the animals.