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Tons Of Debris Removed After North Minneapolis Tornado

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Ten days since a tornado struck north Minneapolis, volunteers and city crews have been working non-stop to help residents clean up from the mess left behind by the storm.

Minneapolis's public works crews started removing tree debris from city streets on the north side on May 25. Since that effort started, more than 4,000 truckloads of debris have been removed from the area.

Debris removal efforts will continue through June 10. After that date, home owners should continue to use the city's yard waste services to get rid of storm debris.

Urban Homeworks, which has worked with the city of Minneapolis throughout the clean-up process, estimated that 3,000 volunteers have helped with cleaning up debris from more than 3,500 homes in the area affected by the tornado. The city of Minneapolis reached its goal of 2,000 volunteers on Wednesday for the official clean-up day, which is Saturday.

The American Red Cross, which has also assisted in relief efforts, has serviced more than 600 overnight stays at the Northeast Armory and North Commons Community Center. The Red Cross has estimated that more than 300 disaster responders in the area have handed out more than 60,000 snacks and meals.

Gary Klason, with the United Methodist Disaster response team, said people are grateful for the help.

"Very positive, I mean people come by and thank us, and that's amazing because they have been through a lot," he said.

The American Red Cross is also helping out, going door to door to make sure that basic needs are met.

"We've been given a list, but we are also checking on others who may need our help also," one worker said.

Saturday, 2,000 will help with debris cleanup. The group is meeting at Brookdale, at Macy's parking lot. They are working in two shifts and will register first before heading out to begin the work.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO's Susie Jones Reports

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For more information provided by the city of Minneapolis on the tornado relief efforts, click here.

For our tornado resources page, click here.

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