Transcripts

ANNIE BAXTER: It was an eerie scene in Rogers on Sunday. In some neighborhoods, it looked as though a giant had trudged down the streets, smashing roofs down to the ground and crumpling garages like accordions. Rogers resident Dustin Sims surveyed his home's damage with dismay as helicopters buzzed overhead. Sims says winds dragged most of the contents of his house to one side of the structure. But to his wonderment, the storm didn't touch some of his more fragile possessions.

DUSTIN SIMS: We have a china hutch in one of these front rooms. And completely, completely tore the room apart but left the china hutch alone. It didn't even break a dish.

ANNIE BAXTER: It was an equally perplexing scene across the street from Sims. Much of the furniture was still in place in a neighbor's living room. It's just that the room didn't have a ceiling or walls. Instead, what were previously walls now lay in piles on the lawn. At a press conference, Rogers Police Chief Keith Oldfather said the homes sustaining the worst devastation were mostly new, built in the past five years. But he doesn't think faulty construction was the cause.

KEITH OLDFATHER: I don't think I'd make an inference to that simply because one house was in perfect shape and the next one gone. And some of them are built by the same builders.

ANNIE BAXTER: Oldfather simply blamed the storm itself for wreaking such havoc, and he said the cleanup would be slow going. Over the weekend, there was still too much clutter for heavy machinery to get into some neighborhoods to pull out the larger pieces of debris. The first layer of debris was removed by hand. And to help with that effort, a number of local residents stepped forward.

SPEAKER: I need a volunteer. I got some friends that are in the damaged area there.

ANNIE BAXTER: A team of volunteers gathered at the Rogers Elementary School gym Sunday before loading into school buses headed to storm-ravaged areas. Rogers resident Tom Daly showed up to help.

TOM DALY: I feel sorry for the people that it did happen to. I know a lot of the people. So I'm just trying to help out the community, get out, and support my local neighbors, and just try to lend a helping hand.

ANNIE BAXTER: Over at the city's fire station, the Red Cross set up a help center. The organization was conducting damage assessments in the town to identify what services were needed for storm victims and how to fund them. Twin Cities Red Cross Captain Dan Paitso says the organization has helped storm victims however it can, including finding shelter for some.

DAN PAITSO: We're here to fill in the gaps that insurance doesn't cover or FEMA doesn't cover. And we'll try and be that gap filler that people can deal with.

ANNIE BAXTER: Red Cross volunteers also drove around storm-devastated neighborhoods with food supplies, and Red Cross mental health workers offered counseling to residents, some of whom still seemed too stunned to figure out what their next steps would be. That was the case with [? Cal ?] [? Korth. ?] He says he came home from a concert Saturday night to find the windows blown out of his house. He says he doesn't know what kind of repairs will be necessary.

[? CAL KORTH: ?] I have absolutely no idea at this time. We have water leaks. We had gas leaks that we had to shut off. We have all of the house except for one bedroom with wind blowing through it. I'm not even positive that the house can be salvaged as it is.

ANNIE BAXTER: At the time of the interview, [? Korth ?] had no idea where he, his wife, and 16-year-old daughter would be sleeping that night, but he tried to be optimistic.

[? CAL KORTH: ?] It's got to get better. It can't get worse, so it's going to get better.

ANNIE BAXTER: Rogers residents who still need assistance are encouraged to go to the Rogers Fire Station and speak to Red Cross workers. Individuals who want to volunteer for additional cleanup efforts can present themselves at the Main Street Family Services in Rogers. I'm Annie Baxter, Minnesota Public Radio News.