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Nicollet, Minn. (WCCO) ― A tornado near Kasota, Minn., killed an elderly man Thursday evening and caused damage in Nicollet and Le Sueur counties in southern Minnesota.

That tornado touched down just south of St. Peter, Minn., just after 5:45 p.m. A tornado touched down in Nicollet just before that and a third tornado touched down near Mantorville, Minn., around 7:15 p.m.

Those tornadoes, confirmed by the National Weather Service, damaged at least 25 houses.

Death And Injuries

The tornado near Kasota killed a 90-year-old man, who was trapped in his house when the tornado hit, officials said.

Officials identified the man as Thomas O'Brien. O'Brien was trapped by falling debris when rescuers found him. He died at a local hospital.

About 25 other people were treated at local hospitals for broken bones and other injuries that were not life-threatening. Five people were admitted to St. Peter Community Hospital. Those people had multiple storm-related injuries.

The hospital did launch their disaster plan Thursday night and set up a second emergency room to deal with the injured people.

Tornado Damage

In Cleveland, Minn., in Le Sueur County, a tornado wiped out Jamie Baker's house, barn and garage.

Baker said he saw the tornado coming and ran inside. He grabbed his boys -- ages 11 and 8 -- and his wife and sister and took cover.

After the storm, neighbors showed up to help the Bakers dig through what was left of their house.

The most serious property damage was reported in adjacent Nicollet County, where a tornado bounced through Nicollet, a town of 800, then moved east toward St. Peter, tearing roofs from farm houses and downing trees and power lines.

Nicollet County Sheriff Dave Lange said the worst damage was on the east side of Nicollet, but left only a couple of homes uninhabitable as it "bounced up and down" through town. Trees were blown down on the western edge of town.

Many of the houses along Minnesota Highway 99 in the 12 miles between St. Peter and Nicollet were without roofs, and the fronts or sides were ripped off others, exposing interior rooms.

Powerline poles lay like toothpicks alongside the road; some treetops were sheared off and other trees showed signs of damage from very strong winds.

Doug Lukes knows a thing or two about starting over and now he has to do it all over again. Lukes moved into his Nicollet house after his house was destroyed in the St. Peter tornado in 1998.

He lost everything then and he lost just about everything again on Thursday.

"Everything's fallen into the basement, the roof, I don't know where, part of that is lying on the road, the other part's gone," Lukes said. "The garage is gone ... everything in the kitchen, smashed, busted, everything's gone."

His house was among the worst damage in town, but throughout his neighborhood, the tornado tore roofs off houses, twisted siding and scattered debris through yards.

"You just got to pick up the pieces and go on," Lukes said.

Lukes' neighbor, Ann Wagner, was one of the lucky homeowners in Nicollet. Roofs were torn off houses on one side. The garage next door was collapsed atop a minivan. The house behind Wagner's was destroyed. Wagner's patio furniture, grill and her granddaughter's toys sat undisturbed.

Many area farms said they lost crops and cattle in the storms.

What's Ahead

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is planning a trip to the damaged areas Friday, to get a first-hand account of what happened there.

The National Weather Service will also be in the area, trying to figure out how much weather hit the area.

Residents will now start sorting through the debris and start the long process of cleaning up.

Earlier Storms

An earlier line of thunderstorms dropped hail as large as softballs on several communities south of the Twin Cities.

The hailstorm ripped through Northfield late Thursday morning, damaging hundreds of cars, trees and roofs.

Eleven squad cars from the Northfield Police Department were damaged, and police were borrowing squad cars from the Rice County Sheriff's Office, the Northfield News reported.

"Every car in the lot was damaged," said Doug Fitzgerald, sales manager at Dokmo Ford-Chrysler. "It looks like a war zone."

At Furlong Motors in Northfield, Office Manager Marilyn Falk said all cars in the lot were damaged and there was some building damage. She estimated the damage at between $6 million and $12 million.

In New Prague, police chief Mark Vosejpka said hail smashed the windshield of a fire truck and dented many vehicles.

Hail and rain also were reported in Anoka, Blaine, Andover, Alexandria and the St. Cloud area. And heavy rain fell in southern and southeastern Minnesota late Thursday night and early Friday, prompting a flash flood warning.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)