Sunday morning storms leave thousands without power; downed trees and hail reported
Updated: 3:42 p.m. | Posted: 1 p.m.
A line of strong thunderstorms swept across central and southern Minnesota Sunday morning, knocking out power to thousands.
Xcel Energy spokesman Matt Lindstrom said about 132,000 Xcel customers were without power at one point. As of 3:30 p.m., 58,000 customers were still without power. Most of the outages were in the St. Cloud and Twin Cities areas.
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"I think the straight-line winds definitely affected our system. And our crews are working quickly and safely as possible," said Lindstrom.
More than 500 employees and contractors are working to restore power. As of noon Sunday, Xcel reported that crews restored power to approximately 45,000 customers.
Stay away from down power lines. pic.twitter.com/cHaiXmSSHi
— Edina Police Dept (@EdinaPolice) June 11, 2017
The storm reached downtown Minneapolis just before 9 a.m. Sunday. The National Weather Service reported wind gusts as high as 60 mph in some areas. Winds in Meeker County, west of the Twin Cities, touched 80 mph.
The St. Paul Fire Department had to extricate two people who were trapped when a damaged tree fell on them. The two adults had been standing near the tree after the storm passed through, when the tree collapsed and trapped them. They're being treated for non-life threatening injuries at Regions Hospital.
The Minnesota State Patrol reported two people were hurt when wind gusts flipped a pickup and camper as the driver was moving onto the shoulder on a county road in Meeker County. They were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
In the northeast metro, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Griesinger said golf ball-sized hail damaged windows and siding on some homes.
He said the storm followed a wide path from western Minnesota through the Twin Cities, but there were no reports of tornadoes.
The storms began just as church services were getting underway in Norwood Young America. The city of about 3,500 people is just southwest of the Twin Cities. At the All Saints Lutheran Church, faith formation director Christin Fugate said the power went out in the middle of their 8 a.m. service.
"Right at that moment we were in a song that fortunately our pianist knew, had memorized, and she just kept playing, and people kept singing, and we just carried on with our worship service as best we could," said Fugate.
iPhone flashlights were used to light the rest of the service, and the pastor requested the congregation close with the song, "Silent Night."
The Carver County sheriff's department reported quarter-inch size hail and downed trees and power lines. The Anoka County Sheriff reports many of the streets in the county are flooded. The storms also delayed some of the cyclists taking part in this weekend's MS150 charity ride from Duluth to St. Paul.
This video of this morning's hail from my in-laws is intense. #mnwx pic.twitter.com/wdjsP5uLjv
— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) June 11, 2017
Holly Anderson with the MS Society said riders started the second day of their trip in Hinckley, but many had to wait for about an hour as the storm moved across Chisago County.
"We were able to open up some churches and some other places for folks to be while the severe weather came through," said Anderson. "And then we were able to bus people who wanted to go to the finish, bus them back, and then others went ahead and rode."
Anderson said the riders were able to get back on their bikes after volunteers removed branches and debris from the route. There were no injuries reported.
Route is open! Amazing teamwork w/ @ChisagoCountySO @NBPoliceDept @WyomingFire & @mssociety to keep the riders safe. No injuries. #mnwx pic.twitter.com/lRypAP4kYV
— Wyoming, MN Police (@wyomingpd) June 11, 2017
Natura Farms, a pick-your-own berry farm in Marine on St. Croix, had to close for the day because of storm damage. Kirstin Geerdes said their plants have been stripped of their leaves and hail damaged their greenhouses and berries. Geerdes posted on Facebook that they'll keep customers updated as they clean up the farm.