Twin Cities Residents Clean Up After Severe Storms: 'It Was Scary'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Many residents across the Twin Cities metro are cleaning up after a severe storm rolled through the area Wednesday evening. And for some, the damage is inside and outside their homes.
The storms impacted people all across Minnesota and Wisconsin, but some of the worst damage is in the north metro.
A large tree fell in Brooklyn Center, fortunately toppling away from a home.
In Blaine, a neighborhood's homes were damaged. The homeowners told WCCO they woke up their 2-year-old son and ran to the basement just before the roof came off and water started pouring in.
"Flooding on all levels of the house. My house got it worse. Walked in and it kind of reminded me of 'Titanic,' the water comes through the cracks, the lights. It was scary," said Blaine resident Alex Millerbernd.
Neighbors in Robbinsdale woke up to some serious yard damage, with the clean-up likely to take several days.
"My wife was attempting to take a picture of the storm from our bedroom window when she saw the neighbor's tree tumble," said Terry Wessling, who said the tree collapsed around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
He said the tree crashed on top of his neighbor's garage, flattening the car inside. Then the top of the tree landing partially on Wessling's brand-new, never-use-before trailer, which he had big plans to use this summer.
"We had several trips planned this year with the grandkids, including one to Florida for three weeks, and they were very, very sad," said Wessling.
He believes it's totaled because the truck frame is bent from the tree damage.
"It will never travel true," he said.
One of the branches also punctured through the new trailer. Other neighbors just a block over had a giant pine tree uproot and crash directly in front of their home. While that family that lives there can't use their front door for now, they told us they're all OK and the house was avoided.
Wessling is grateful for the same reason. Neither he or his neighbors were hurt.
"I know what's valuable. My wife, my kids, my grandkids," said Wessling. "As long as you're alive, you got hope."
Wessling said he also lost power during the storm, but he's able to use a generator to keep the fridge running.
Several other WCCO viewers sent in photos of post-storm damage. In Minneapolis, a fallen tree left a huge hole in one homeowner's roof and a mess inside.
The homeowner, Terry, set out buckets to catch the rain. He's lived here for 20 years and said Wednesday was easily the worst storm he's lived through.
The damage isn't just to his roof and the floor below.
"There's a good size hole in the roof where the branch had gone through," Terry said. "Looked like there were a couple of branches there and the water is seeping down into the basement from here, so I had to move a lot of stuff away so the water could drain out properly."
There's also a large branch lying in Terry's attic.
A home in Coon Rapids was nearly bisected by a downed tree. Neighbor Sharon Sloane said she never even heard the tree fall.
"When my fiancé seen it, we come out looking with umbrellas, it's like, 'Oh my God,'" she said. "I feel really bad for them."
Sloane said she doesn't believe the homeowners were home when the tree fell.
In Roseville, viewer Sam Galatz caught video of a fallen tree that lit up after hitting a power line. Galatz said it burned for more than two hours.
Alyssa in Blaine sent in photos of multiple downed trees in the area.
Courtney Leaf in Edina lost a "she shed" to the storms.
Michael Tiede in Minneapolis saw a downed tree near West 55th Street and Washburn Avenue South.
On Grotto Street in St. Paul, LuAnn Hudson caught this picture of a tree that fell on a garage.
Paul Mikelson in Eden Prairie found a tree entirely uprooted.
The Bloomington Fire Department said it responded to "numerous incidents" Wednesday night.
Forestry crews were out in Brooklyn Park Thursday removing trees that were interfering with traffic. The city most of the tree damage was concentrated in the southeast part of the city.
There were many reports of flooding during Wednesday's storms as well. Kelly Leedy in Montrose snapped this pic of a flooded backyard.
The Aitkin County Fairgrounds sustained heavy damage, just about two months before the fair is scheduled to take place.
"The fair board is hard at work to make this year's fair even better," fair organizers wrote on Facebook. "Might look a bit different but it will be amazing!"
Another round of severe storms is set to move through Minnesota Thursday evening.
