After hurricane-strength winds toppled trees onto homes and cars early Tuesday, residents of south metro communities that bore the brunt of the overnight thunderstorms shared stories of close calls.

Tim O’Keefe of Hastings was sitting in his dining room about 4 a.m. when he heard the crash of a 40-year-old elm falling through the front corner of his roof.

“It was almost like it happened in slow motion,” said O’Keefe, 55.

In Apple Valley, thunder awoke Irene Lomicka at 2 a.m., and she watched as a toppling tree nearly hit her deck.

“I got out there, and I saw the whole root was up in the air,” said Lomicka, 84.

In Lakeville, about 100 homes were damaged, police said. In Hastings, the wind blew the roof off a 65-unit senior housing building, displacing residents. One weather spotter reported 14 power poles snapped in half on Pilot Knob Road in Apple Valley. Other spotters reported 30-foot trees down in Rosemount and Eagan.

Despite the damage, no serious injuries were reported.

The storms also knocked out electrical service to thousands of Twin Cities residents.

About 100,000 Xcel Energy customers were without power at some point Tuesday, June 19. As of 9:20 p.m., about 4,200 were still without power. Xcel said it expected to have “the vast majority” of service restored by 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Dakota Electric reported about 10,000 of its customers had lost power, but that was reduced to fewer than 500 by Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday was the fifth day since June 10 with severe weather in the Twin Cities, said Tony Zaleski, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen.

That’s on par with the weather service’s projection of June 17 as the peak date for severe weather in the summer calendar, Zaleski said.

“June is typically our biggest month for severe weather compared to the rest of the year,” Zaleski said.

More severe weather was forecast into Wednesday. Conditions for severe thunderstorms were expected for most of Minnesota from about 10 p.m. Tuesday to 4 a.m. Wednesday, Zaleski said.

The chance for heavy rain was 60 percent from 1 to 7 a.m. Wednesday, and then 70 percent through much of the rest of the day.

A flash-flood watch was in effect for the Twin Cities and central and southern Minnesota through Wednesday night.

During Tuesday morning’s storms, winds gusted as high as 80 mph — the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane. A weather service map showed wind damage from Prior Lake to St. Paul and Hastings. Hail damage, from dime- to table tennis-ball size, was seen mainly across the north metro, from Vadnais Heights to Lake Elmo and Stillwater.

Wind gusts around the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin generally ranged from 40 to 60 mph, according to storm reports sent to the National Weather Service. A gauge at St. Paul Downtown Airport recorded 64 mph gusts, and reports from Scott County showed gusts of 80 mph.

“I’ve never heard wind like that, ever,” said Hastings resident Sharon Houlihan, who woke to strong winds and hail.

Winds were strong enough to blow a large trampoline from four houses away onto her property, near the five fallen trees in her and her neighbor’s yards. The trees brought down a streetlight and an electrical transformer, Houlihan said.

Nearby, a tree had fallen onto neighbor Dave Canniff’s work truck. Canniff, 60, a professional painter, took the day off to clean up his yard. A second tree had landed on the back of his house.

On Tuesday afternoon, Lakeville city workers were still assessing the damage to the estimated 100 homes affected by the storms.

The damaged senior housing in Hastings was managed by the Dakota County Community Development Agency, said Mark Ulfers, the agency’s executive director.

The complex’s residents found temporary shelter and food Tuesday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Hastings. The agency moved some residents to 14 hotel rooms. The remainder were staying with friends and family, Ulfers said. Some of the units might be habitable within a few days.

In West St. Paul, the storms caused a power outage that resulted in the city’s water tower being unable to pump sufficiently — a situation that can result in contamination, said Jim Bode, water quality supervisor for St. Paul Regional Water Services, the city’s water supplier.

West St. Paul residents were being urged not to drink their water until Wednesday morning. Before consuming water Wednesday, they should check for an OK on the city’s website or call St. Paul Regional Water Services at 651-266-6350.

“It’s strictly precautionary,” Bode said of the consumption ban. “There’s a rule that if you lose pressure in a system you have to issue a do-not-drink order. The idea is that in those situations there is a possibility that contamination could have pushed back into our system.”

Dakota County officials reported that power was out at the South St. Paul Museum, the Inver Glen Library, the Wentworth Library and Pleasant Hills Library. They said the county’s data network was damaged, affecting several departments and meaning users might not be able to access the network or use certain websites for some time.

In Burnsville, power was cut to the Burnsville Water Treatment plant before being restored by Tuesday afternoon.

One power outage caused the Stillwater Lift Bridge to become stuck in the down position Tuesday, said Kevin Gutknecht, communications director for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Motorists could travel over the bridge, but it could not be raised for river traffic.

Andy Rathbun, Nick Ferraro and Danya Hernandez contributed to this report.