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Rochester was hit hard early Wednesday by severe thunderstorms packing near-hurricane-force winds.

The National Weather Service received a report of 68 mph winds near downtown Rochester just after 1:30 a.m. Those winds downed trees and power lines in the city.

Rochester Public Utilities said it had crews working to repair 

 across the city early Wednesday, at one point affecting more than 9,000 homes and businesses. That number was falling as line crews made repairs through the morning hours.

The utility was asking people to watch for, and stay clear of, downed power lines.

The National Weather Service also received a report of some flooding in downtown Rochester as the storms dropped localized torrential rain.

There were scattered power outages elsewhere across southern Minnesota early Wednesday. The storms also dropped golf-ball-size hail near Delevan in Faribault County, and nickel- to quarter-size hail near Northrop and Waldorf.

There’s another chance for storms in the region later Thursday, and some of those could be severe. Find forecast update on 

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The National Weather Service received a report of 68 mph winds near downtown Rochester just after 1:30 a.m. Those winds downed trees and power lines in the city. Other parts of southern Minnesota also saw strong storms overnight.

Severe storms down trees, power lines in Rochester

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