By Tim Engstrom and Sarah Stultz

An Albert Lea couple said they are thankful to be alive this morning after a thunderstorm severely damaged their home.

Matt and Anne Greibrok, of 1349 Eastgate Road, said they were sleeping at about 3:30 a.m. today when they heard a pounding noise on their windows and then glass started to crack.

“We headed to the basement, and it was all over within seconds,” said Matt Greibrok, the general manager at Thermo King in Albert Lea.

A portion of their roof, which was over their bedroom, was ripped off, along with two of the three stalls of their garage. The windows of the bedroom — directly behind the garage — were broken out.

Large oak trees that lined their backyard were snapped in half, and their boat was thrown across the yard.

“We thought there were only going to be thunderstorms,” Anne Greibrok said.

The couple believes what damaged their home was more than just a severe thunderstorm. They said they think it was the work of a tornado. They heard what they described as a loud sound, similar to a train. No sirens sounded.

J.D. Carlson, deputy director of police with the Albert Lea Police Department, said some debris from the house ended up in the Tiger Hills neighborhood.

Before 8 a.m. this morning, friends and neighbors were at the Greibrok house, offering help with everything from cleaning up the yard to removing items from the house.

Anne Greibrok, who works at Lou-Rich, said their insurance agent, Andy Petersen, who lives right next door, was at the house at 5 a.m. She planned to remove everything from the home.

“We’re really thankful we’re alive,” she said. “We were pretty much in the thick of it.”

Many other branches and trees were down in the neighborhood off of Garfield Avenue, and city crews were already out surveying the damage before 8 a.m.

In Alden, trees were uprooted, limbs fallen and power lines were down. The entire city was without power this morning. The attached garage of a house on Powers Avenue in Alden came off its foundation and shifted.

Reports indicate six power poles were down along Interstate 90 between Alden and Albert Lea. Alliant Energy’s outage map indicated 189 customers in Freeborn County were without power as of 8:30 a.m. today.

The wind speed at 3:13 a.m. reached 21 mph, with 35 mph gusts, according to the automated station at the Albert Lea airport.

Farm fields were soaked this morning, with many areas showing flooding. The Albert Lea wastewater plant recorded 0.8 inch of rain in this storm. It recorded 2.79 inches in a Monday night storm. That’s 3.59 inches from two successive storms.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said the northwest part of Freeborn County was the hardest hit, with sheds, bins and other structures damaged. A news release states Alden, Emmons and Conger this morning were pumping sewers to protect treatment plants and private wells.

In Faribault County, grills, trampolines and other unattached property were blown away, according to the DPS news release. Street flooding occurred in many cities.

In Owatonna, all waterways are at capacity and further rain could cause them to overflow their banks. The Mississippi River at St. Paul is expected to rise above 15 feet. At that level, additional erosion is expected along Water Street.

In Albert Lea, a tree reportedly fell on a house at 3:53 a.m. today at 1335 Briarwood Drive.

The roadway near the intersection of 750th Avenue and 270th Street in Clarks Grove was reported washed out at 3:59 a.m. Tuesday.

A power line was down across the road at 11:09 p.m. Tuesday at 80486 Turtle Creek Road in Hollandale. Reports kept coming in as the Tribune went to press this morning.

The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday issued a no-wake restriction for Fountain Lake after heavy rains Monday night.

The restriction, until further notice, includes Edgewater Bay, according to a news release. Signs will be placed at both the Edgewater and Brookside boat ramps until the restriction is lifted.

The release encourages anyone going on the waters of Fountain Lake to use extra caution because of submerged or partially submerged tree branches and docks that may have broken free during high winds and rising water levels.

The duration of the restriction will depend on the weather during the next two to three days and on how quickly the water recedes.

Albert Lea resident Tom Jones said after living on the shore of Fountain Lake for 52 years he had never seen the water rise so quickly as it did from Monday to Tuesday. Docks and boat lifts were beneath the water level Tuesday.

The weather forecast for tonight calls for additional rain. Thunderstorms are likely after 1 a.m., with a half to three-quarters of an inch possible.

Tuesday was the fourth anniversary of the largest tornado outbreak in Minnesota history, storms seared into the memories of Freeborn County residents. On June 17, 2010, one woman near Armstrong was killed by an EF4 tornado. Many farms and country homes were devastated. The 48 tornadoes that touched down in Minnesota that day marked the most active single day in the state’s history.