Scout leader: Storms kill boy, woman in northern Minnesota
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A boy and a woman camping with a Boy Scouts adventure program were killed and two other campers were injured when severe storms swept through a northern Minnesota forest, the leader of the program said Thursday.
The boy and the female volunteer with the Northern Tier High Adventure Base Program died while camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, according to general manager John Van Dreese.
Strong storms that moved through parts of Minnesota early Thursday knocked down trees and power lines.
The two injured campers were evacuated from the wilderness area in the Superior National Forest by air, according to the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office.
Nine people, including three adults and six boys, were part of the program and were camping near Basswood Lake at the Canadian border when the storms hit. Sheriff's officials and other emergency responders were working on evacuating the rest of the group from the wilderness area, Van Dreese said.
Authorities provided no details of how the two were killed.
Last month, the brother of a Minnesota congressman was killed during a Father's Day camping trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness when a powerful storm brought a tree down on his tent. Craig Walz, 43, the brother of Democratic U.S. Rep Tim Walz, was killed at Duncan Lake as the storm hit. His son was injured.
CBS Minnesota reports that the storm knocked down trees and power lines elsewhere in Minnesota, leaving tens of thousands of people without service from Duluth to the Twin Cities on what could be the hottest day of the year.
Trees, branches and debris blocked roads in northeastern Minnesota and elsewhere. Authorities in Duluth urged people to stay off the streets until they were cleared of power lines.
After storms and clouds moved out of the state, temperatures were expected to heat up again with humidity pushing readings into the triple digits, according to the National Weather Service. It issued an excessive heat warning for the southern two-thirds of the state through 7 p.m. Friday.