In the Twin Cities last week, summer arrived in the form of two huge storms that brought a deluge of rain and high force winds. Thousands of trees were toppled and over 500,000 homes and businesses lost power – many for several days.
The Star Tribune reported yesterday that:
In Minneapolis, streets blocked by downed trees were so common in some neighborhoods that emergency vehicles and Metro Transit bus drivers were forced to hunt for routes through the wreckage left by the storms that began Friday morning and continued through the weekend.
I experienced this street-blocking wreckage first-hand today when I delivered a meals-on-wheels route in south Minneapolis. There were trees down everywhere.
My home escaped damage but I know people who lost power last Friday night and had it restored only just yesterday. Still, as damaging and inconvenient as the storms have been, I'm grateful there were no fatalities or series injuries.
Related Off-site Links:
Storm Clean Up Continues, No Species of Tree Spared – Tim Sherno (KSTP News, June 25, 2013).
Minneapolis Homeowners Blame Root Cuts for Downed Trees – Steve Brandt (Star Tribune, June 25, 2013).
Xcel Energy Says Power Back for 95% – Paul Walsh and Linda Coutre (Star Tribune, June 25, 2013).
Minneapolis Working to Clear Debris After Weekend Storms – Caitlin Burgess (Southwest Minneapolis Patch, June 22, 2013).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Superstorm Sandy: A 'Wake-Up Call' on Climate Change
A Wild Afternoon in Minneapolis
Images: Michael J. Bayly.
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