MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A tornado struck near downtown Minneapolis Wednesday afternoon, tossing trees onto cars and damaging buildings but hurting no one, authorities said.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Century Lutheran Church near the Minneapolis Convention Center and a music store south of downtown were among the buildings damaged by the storm, which triggered a round of warning sirens as it developed.
A Twitter filed by the Electric Fetus music store said winds blew out two large windows and the roof had caved on the back side of the building, the newspaper said. "We are dealing with it now," someone at the store tweeted. "No one was hurt."
The church's copper steeple was damaged, and two tents set up for a national church convention were knocked down.
"We're thankful that nobody was hurt," church spokesman Joe Bjordal told the Star Tribune.
At least 10 large trees were sent crashing onto cars in one neighborhood.
Police and fire officials were house to house looking for possible victims, the newspaper said.
"This dispels myths that tornadoes don't hit urban areas, they go where they want to," Pete Boulay, assistant state climatologist, said. "It doesn't happen very often, but they do happen."
The storm also caused flooding at a major highway construction problem on the southern edge of the city.
"We saw the remnants of the funnel here in our office on the 53rd floor of 225 South Sixth Street," said David Hakensen, senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard Inc. "It was a little disconcerting."
Police in the St. Paul suburb of Cottage Grove reported seeing funnel clouds near a golf course but there were no reports of damage or injuries there.
Accuweather said its maps showed Kansas City and Omaha in the path of potentially severe thunderstorms during the day. St. Louis and Chicago could possibly be impacted in the evening hours.
Storms Tuesday stirred up a small tornado in Beaumont, Texas, that caused some minor injuries and damaged a shopping area.
Tornadoes were also reported in southern Colorado. KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs reported trees were downed and power was knocked out in two counties.
The New York Post said an overnight storm packing 50-mph winds soaked all five New York boroughs, knocked out power to about 1,000 homes and toppled about100 trees in Central Park.
The Baltimore Sun reported similar results of a Tuesday afternoon storm and said rain showers would linger through Wednesday.
