Severe storm rips roof off North Hudson apartment building

NORTH HUDSON, Wis. – Severe storms did some major damage Monday in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. About 14,000 families lost power, and about 5,000 are still in the dark as of 10 p.m. Monday.

A storm ripped through North Hudson, Wisconsin in just minutes Monday, leaving an apartment building in pieces. Residents say they've never experienced a storm of that magnitude before.

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Ed Ratledge was asleep in one of the apartments that no longer has a roof. He was sleeping on his couch, which turned out to be a miraculous piece of luck.

"Seen ceiling tile and rain, hail coming down," Ratledge said. "If I would've been sleeping in the bedroom, the whole thing would've came down on me ... Both bedrooms, ceiling came down, completely straight down."  

The people who spent hours Monday cleaning up are stunned by the suddenness and severity of the storm.

"Seemed to come out of nowhere. Suddenly there's wind and hail. I thought our windows were gonna blow in," said a resident named Suzanne. "Things just flying everywhere, so scariest storm I've been in a very long time."

Massive trees were uprooted on several blocks through town. Others were snapped in half. Warped trampolines and piles of hail were left behind.

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But Ratledge's only focused on what he lost: his car, and his two cats -- both missing.

"We've had some bad storms. Nothing ever like this," he said.

The Red Cross is in town Monday night to help people get what they need to get through this.