Meanwhile, the impending disaster which was to befall the region was just beginning to unfold. The tornado was reported to have first touched down around 5:30 PM about five miles south of Hudson, on the eastern bank of Lake St. Croix. The tornado was described as a "boiling cloud", which seemed to skirt the hills to the east of Lake St. Croix, and then began moving off to the northeast. Passing clear of Hudson and following both the Willow River and the Omaha Railroad, the tornado swept away several farms near the rural communities of Burkhardt and Boardman as it traveled northeast. Four fatalities were reported at Boardman. 55-year-old Kate Heffron was the first reported fatality, as she was killed when the tornado demolished her home and farm. The home and farm of 70-year-old Louisa Hurd also sustained a direct hit, as Ms. Hurd and 13-year-old Gertie Wears were both killed when her home was swept away. Wears had stopped in along with her father and brother to visit, both of whom managed to reach the cellar before the storm hit. John Neitge, a young farmer from Deer Park who had been driving through with his intended bride had also stopped at the Hurd farm to seek shelter from the storm. He was struck and killed by flying debris, she was uninjured.