Severe storms cause damage, knock out power in Red River Valley

Severe storms brought wind gusts as high as 80 miles per hour to parts of the Red River Valley on Saturday, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses.

The National Weather Service reported that the storms downed trees and power lines in the Fargo-Moorhead area as they moved through during the midday hours. Xcel Energy reported more than 9,000 customers without power as of late Saturday afternoon.

The Fargo Police Department posted a notice on social media that many traffic signals in the city were without power in the wake of the storms, and noted that North Dakota law requires drivers to treat intersections with "dark" signals as an all-way stop.

There also were several reports of semis and other trucks blown over on Interstate 29 in Fargo and Harwood, N.D., as well as along U.S. Highway 10 near Glyndon, Minn. The strong winds also blew in some garage doors in Fargo.

The Weather Service reported a wind gust of 80 mph at the Fargo airport, with wind gusts of 62 mph at the Moorhead airport and 60 mph at Hillsboro, N.D.

Additional rounds of storms are possible in the region Saturday night and Sunday.