Storm damage in Minnesota leaves several communities without electricity, trees downed

BACK TO YOU. ALL RIGHT ROB THANK YOU. THAT STORM DAMAGE OBVIOUSLY ISN'T CONTAINED TO THE FAIRGROUNDS. WE'VE SEEN DAMAGE ALL THROUGHOUT THE METRO AND BEYOND. TODAY, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS STILL WITHOUT POWER. YOU CAN SEE MANY COMMUNITIES AFFECTED RIGHT NOW, A LOT OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS OUT ACROSS THE REGION. AND FOR SOME, THAT'S EXPECTED TO LAST FOR DAYS. LET'S GET OUT TO OUR KAREN SCULLIN LIVE IN RICHFIELD FOR US THIS EVENING. KAREN, YOU SPOKE WITH SOME HOMEOWNERS THERE TODAY WHO DON'T HAVE POWER NOW, AND SOME DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY'LL GET IT BACK, RIGHT? SOME HOMES LOST POWER. OTHER HOMES LOST A TREE OR MAYBE A LIMB. BUT, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE HAD A PRETTY GOOD ATTITUDE WHEN IT CAME TO DEALING WITH THE AFTER EFFECTS OF LAST NIGHT'S STORM. POWER LINE DOWN. BUT FOR THE OLSON, AT LEAST SOME POWER IS ON. WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP OUR REFRIGERATOR AND OUR FREEZER, YOU KNOW, FROM FROM LOSING WHAT WE HAVE THAN WHAT WE HAVE IN THERE. THEY DISCOVERED THEIR OUTAGE WHEN TRYING TO WATCH A LITTLE TV. I WAS WATCHING TELEVISION, YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. TO SEE WHAT BARNEY WAS UP TO. SO IT'S BEEN OFF SINCE THEN. SO. AND IT DEPENDS WHERE YOU ARE IN MINNETONKA, SOME STREETS ARE SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE, SEVERAL NEIGHBORS SHARING THEIR. GOOD LUCK WITH THOSE STUCK IN THE DARK. OUR NEIGHBOR CAME TO TALK TO US AND WE'LL SAY YES. HIS NEIGHBOR, BUT ALSO HE IS OUR FRIEND. AND AS AFRICAN, WE SAID HE'S ALSO OUR FAMILY AND WE ARE SO GLAD THAT HE CAN HAVE SOMETHING FROM US AND RUNNING HIS HOUSE IN RICHFIELD. THERE'S POWER AT THIS HOUSE, BUT ALSO A LOT OF FRUSTRATION. IT WAS A LOUD NOISE. IT'S LIKE SOMETHING EXPLODE AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS. BUT THEN WHEN I WENT TO THE BEDROOM WINDOW AND I LOOKED, THAT'S WHEN I SAW THE TREE. JAGGED TREES ARE JAMMING UP THE SHINGLES ON THIS NEWER ROOF THAT WAS REPLACED AFTER THE VERY SAME TREE LOST A DIFFERENT LIMB IN A PREVIOUS STORM. ANOTHER UPFRONT EXPENSE TO THE TUNE OF $6,000. I HAVE TO WAIT ON THE INSURANCE, SO I HAVE TO PAY HIM AND THEN WAIT FOR THEM TO REIMBURSE ME. SO WHEN WILL THE POWER COME BACK ON? IN MINNETONKA, SOME NEIGHBORS RECEIVED NOTICE TO EXPECT IT SOMETIME ON THURSDAY. FOR GARY AND CAROL, THOUGH, IT SEEMS THEY WILL JUST HAVE TO BE SURPRISED. THEY TOLD US THEY'D SEND US A CALL OR A TEXT WHEN THE POWER WAS BACK ON, BUT THEY REALLY DON'T NEED TO. WE KNOW BECAUSE YOU WOULD KNOW. THE LIGHTS COME BACK ON. YES, YES. WELL, FOR SOME, POWER IS ACTUALLY COMING ON SOONER THAN EXPECTED. BUT AGAIN, IT COULD BE THURSDAY FOR SOME HOMES AND THAT'S QUITE A WAIT. WE ARE LIVE IN RICHFIELD. KAREN SCULLIN, FOX NINE. YEAH. SO MANY PEOPLE WAITING UNTIL THE END OF THE WEEK TO GET THAT POWER RESTORED. WELL, TALK ABOUT LUCKY. SO WE WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT WACONIA TREE SPLITTING IN HALF AND FALLING OVER DURING THE STORMS. PERFECTLY TOPPLING OVER A CAR, CREATING A NICE CANOPY THERE. THAT IS DUMB LUCK RIGHT THERE. THE EAST SIDE OF SAINT PAUL HIT HARD WITH STORMS AS WELL. THIS IS THE PHALEN NEIGHBORHOOD. THE CITY PARKS AND REC DEPARTMENT TELLS US THEY ESTIMATE ABOUT 2000 TREES ARE DOWN IN THAT CITY, AND CLEANING UP AFTER THE STORM COULD TAKE DAYS FOR SO MANY NEIGHBORHOODS. AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THESE PICTURES THAT WE'RE SHOWING YOU, OUR CORIN HOGGARD IS IN A HARD-HIT PART OF APPLE VALLEY AND CORN. A LOT OF PEOPLE THERE CHIPPING IN TO CLEAR IT ALL UP. YEAH, RANDY AND KELSEY, IT'S STILL A REALLY BIG JOB OUT HERE. IF YOU LOOK OVER THERE, YOU'LL SEE ABOUT 30FT OFF OF THE TOP OF A PINE TREE THAT JUST CRUSHED THIS CHAIN LINK FENCE. THERE ARE OTHER TREES DOWN IN THAT BACKYARD, AND THEY'RE JUST NOW STARTING TO WORK ON THOSE. AND THEN ACROSS THE STREET HERE TO OUR LEFT, YOU'LL SEE THERE IS STILL ONE TRUCK FROM THE POWER COMPANY. THEY WERE OUT HERE ALL DAY, MAYBE TEN HOURS. AND THEY JUST IN THE LAST 30 MINUTES GOT POWER RESTORED TO THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. HOW MUCH WOOD CAN A WOOD CHIPPER CHIP THIS MUCH. AND MORE. IT'S NOT THE BIGGEST STORM WE'VE HAD, BUT THERE'S A FEW DOWN HERE AND THERE. MAPLE AND PINE TREES ARE DOWN TO DUST. AFTER FALLING IN JANE CRAWFORD'S BACKYARD TUESDAY MORNING, SHE AND HER HUSBAND SLEPT PEACEFULLY UNTIL THEY HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE A TRAIN HEADED FOR THEIR HOME. ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT JUST WAS KIND OF LIKE RAIN WAS POURING. THEN WE HEARD THE BIG BOOM ON THE HOUSE. WE WERE SO LUCKY IT ENDED UP JUST JUST THAT, WELL, IT WAS A TINY DENT ON THE GUTTER IS THE ONLY MARK ON THE HOUSE, BUT A COUPLE OF MINUTES OF STRAIGHT LINE WINDS WIPED OUT DECADES OF GROWTH, LEAVING THE YARD LOOKING NAKED AND UNSHADED. DOWNED TREES BLOCKED, ROADS CRUSHED FENCES AND DAMAGED POWER LINES ON A PATH OF DESTRUCTION THROUGH THE SOUTH METRO. THE NICEST THING IS THE NEIGHBORS ARE PITCHING IN. EVERYBODY IS COMING TOGETHER. AND THAT'S THE MOST LOVELY THING, YOU KNOW. AND YOU CAN SEE JUST HOW FORCEFULLY THE WINDS CUT THROUGH THESE TREES, JUST SLICING BIG BRANCHES RIGHT OFF OF THEM. THIS CLEANUP HERE CAN GET PRETTY EXPENSIVE. IT RUNS INTO THE THOUSANDS FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. AND THE CITY HERE IN APPLE VALLEY, IN APPLE VALLEY WILL JUST PICK UP SMALL BRANCHES AND TWIGS WHEN IT GETS BIGGER THAN THAT, YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT