Tornadoes strike Minnesota, but do little damage

A Minnesota state trooper caught this image of a tornado on his car video camera

NORTHFIELD, Minnesota (CNN) -- At least five tornadoes raced through parts of rural Minnesota Wednesday night, but caused little damage to homes and buildings, emergency officials said. There were no reports of injuries.

Two tornadoes struck Scott County south of Minneapolis and one hit Rice County, skipping over the campus of Carleton College in Northfield and hitting a turkey farm. Another was reported in Carver County, as well as one in Goodhue County along the Wisconsin border.

Emergency official John Elder said storms intensified after an otherwise nice, spring Minnesota day.

"This stuff just whipped up basically out of nowhere," he said.

The storm tore the roof off this rural home

In Northfield, Eric Sieger, a spokesman for Carleton College, said sirens echoed across campus as a tornado hopped over them. He said the school suffered only minor damage, such as downed tree limbs.

"Other than maybe a few frightened students, everyone is OK," he said.

That tornado apparently then tore through a nearby turkey farm, ripping apart two 500-foot long barns.

"It sounded like a freight train. That's exactly what it sounded like," said Matt Foley, a worker at the farm who hid in a shelter. "Mud was flying. Debris was flying."

Foley and others went into a basement when the tornado neared. "You could hear it move over us," he said.

See related sites about WEATHER

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.