High winds fell trees, knock out power in Twin Cities, other areas
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(AP) Severe thunderstorms swept through central and southeastern Minnesota early Saturday, knocking out power to about 103,000 homes and businesses in the Twin Cities, uprooting trees and causing some street flooding, officials said.
Xcel Energy said another 7,000 of its customers in the St. Cloud area lost power.
The 1 to 3 inches of rain caused some street flooding. The rain also increased the current and raised the water level of the Minnesota River, causing officials to delay the search for victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
Power outages were widespread throughout the Twin Cities area, said Xcel spokesman Tom Hoen. Xcel expected to have most power restored by Saturday afternoon, but said power might not be restored for some customers in outlying areas until the end of the day Monday.
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Xcel crews from Faribault, Red Wing and Fargo, N.D., were being called in to aid Twin Cities crews in getting power back on, Hoen said.
Straight-line winds as high as 70 miles per hour were reported, downing power lines and poles.
"We have substantial damage to poles and distribution systems with downed lines, tree branches on lines and broken lines," Hoen said.
Law enforcement agencies from Bloomington to Stillwater received calls of downed trees, power outages and minor fires.
The city of Eagan reported many trees down, some traffic lights out and debris blocking some roads.
The Como Park area of St. Paul also was hit hard. Police were restricting access to some areas around Lake Como as crews cleared downed trees.
Forecaster Jim Richardson of the National Weather Service said Northfield received 2.7 inches of rain and the weather service office in Chanhassen reported 1.5 inches. The St. Paul Downtown Airport reported 0.84 inches.
Winds of 74 mph were recorded at the Alexandria airport.
The storm developed in west-central Minnesota shortly after midnight, moved through a wide area of central Minnesota and reached the Twin Cities around 3 a.m.
The National Weather Service said there was a chance of more storms later Saturday, with a chance of large hail, damaging winds and heavy rains.
There was a positive side to the storms, which brought some much-needed rain to drought-stricken parts of Minnesota. Severe drought conditions persist over nearly all of central and south-central Minnesota, with moderate drought conditions in the extreme south-central part of the state.
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