Utility Crews Work To Restore Power
Gallery: Severe Weather Rips Through Twin Cities
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There weren't any tornadoes but severe thunderstorms packed a punch across the metro Tuesday night, toppling trees and knocking out power to more than 40,000 people around the metro.
Beyond the electricity outages, there's lots of hail and tree damage. The wind was strong enough in Edina to snap an ash tree in half and have it fall onto a home. Golf ball-sized hail fell in Bloomington, breaking windows on homes and causing damage to cars.
Crews with Xcel Power crews worked overnight to get power restored to customers. This storm knocked down power lines and flooded streets, bringing down golf ball sized hail. As of about noon Wednesday, there were still more than 8,900 people without power.
Bloomington was one of the hardest hit communities as neighbors there spent the morning cleaning up trees, branches and debris in their yards. They said they knew they'd have a busy day of cleaning up as they watched the storm roll through last night.
"Boy when it started it, oh it was a wall of water and the trees and the hail, it was like being in a jar of marbles," said Kay Sullivan of Bloomington.
"We went to the basement and heard the hail coming down and airing around in no power, it's like you're camping all over again," said resident Leon Berg.
Officials with Xcel Energy said that neighborhood is supposed to have power back by about 11 p.m. Wednesday.
