Severe thunderstorms knock out power, down trees in metro area
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(AP) Severe thunderstorms with high winds, heavy rain and hail as large as tennis balls moved through the Twin Cities metro area Wednesday afternoon, knocking down trees, damaging buildings and causing local flooding.
At its peak, Xcel Energy said around 14,600 customers were without power, mostly in the western suburbs.
A tornado touched down briefly around 4:25 p.m. in a farm field in Goodhue County near Wanamingo, southeast of the Twin Cities, but no buildings were damaged and no one was injured.
Gary Fried, Goodhue County emergency management director, said trees were knocked down in several areas but no structural damage was reported.
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A tornado warning was issued for Hennepin and Anoka counties shortly after 2 p.m., but no touchdowns were confirmed in the metro area.
Large hail was reported in Plymouth and other western suburbs, including 2-inch hail in Maple Grove. There were reports of hail breaking car windows in Minnetonka.
All across the Twin Cities, traffic signals went out while tree limbs, other debris and in some cases slow-draining rains blocked roads as rush hour was about to begin. The National Weather Service said the storm produced winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour.
Several car dealerships in Brooklyn Center reported that pingpong sized hail damaged cars on their lots, and trees and signs were damaged in the area around Interstate 494 and Minnesota 55.
Cheryl Rugland said she was working on the computer at Edge Advertising around 2:30 p.m. when she saw pieces of the roof flying past her window. Rugland said about half of the roof was blown away.
The same powerful winds also flipped a couple of construction trailers at a work site near Highway 55 and Xenium. One of the trailers ended up on top of a car, but the person inside was not seriously hurt.
North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale said five people were brought to the emergency room with storm-related injuries.
The storm moved into the metro area from South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota, where three-quarter-inch hail was reported in New Ulm just before noon.
The skies cleared in most parts of the metro by late afternoon as the storm moved into southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
