Several paragraphs into the article they explained that it didn't really explode with the force of an atom bomb all at once, but it was fun to say that it did in the opening paragraphs and would probably also drew more readers in and sold more newspapers.
In general, when fast moving things the size of a house slow to a stop in a very short period of time, a lot of energy is expended. It's sort of like making the statement that 'the collective energy of the ocean tide hitting the Atlantic coast is like an atomic bomb going off every 6 hours'. The amount of energy released is equivalent, but the effect of concentrating all that energy in one tiny place at one time makes all the difference.
I heard of one that actually detonated over Siberia, in the 20's or 30's I think. Flattened hundreds of square miles of timber. Preety cool, unless you're under it.