Tornado cleanup continues in northwest metro

Storms and at least two tornadoes ripped across the north metro area Saturday night with  hail and heavy rain, triggering warning sirens, knocking down trees and causing power outtages.

A tornado dipped into Orono near North Shore Drive and North Arm Drive at about 8:30 p.m. and moved northeast toward Long lake damaging trees and power lines, the Orono Police Department said at a news conference this morning.

In Long Lake, the tornado damaged several businesses before it left the area near Hwy. 101 and County Road 6, police said.

Police and fire crews went door to door checking for injuries and evaluating damage, police said. No injuries had been reported as of 7 a.m. today.

The business district in Long Lake sustained "substantial damage" and has been cordoned off while officials assess the damage. Police ask the public to stay out of the area and to report damage and downed power lines.

Another  tornado touched down in Lake Minnetonka near Mound shortly after 8:30 p.m., the National Weather Service said Saturday night.   Tornado warnings were issued as the storm blew from western Hennepin County across the north metro and into Washington County at about 35 miles per hour.

It sent customers and staff at the Cub Foods in Plymouth scurrying for shelter after someone spotted a funnel cloud outside.
“The sirens were going off for like 20 minutes,” said Stephanie Kucala, a cashier at the store. “We saw a little funnel coming in and out of the clouds.”

Kucala said there was no obvious damage around the store once the storm had passed.

The storm, which produced heavy rain and hail, capped a day of hot and humid weather in the metro area, and added to the wild weather that passed through earlier this weekend.

Lightning strikes are blamed for two fires in Eagan early Saturday, one of which left two people out of their homes and 175 residents and their pets temporarily evacuated from a senior housing condominium.

The first fire was reported at the Shannon Glen Condos, 1887 Silver Bell Road at
1:25 a.m. Firefighters were still at the scene when a second fire call came for a four-plex unit about two blocks away at 3811 Laurel Court.

Additional fire units from Eagan, along with the Apple Valley Fire Department responded to the Laurel Court fire.
Southern metro takes the hit

Although the Eagan Fire marshal is investigating, both calls are believed to be related to the storms that swept through the Twin Cities early Saturday.

Lightning also knocked out campus phone service at Macalester College in St. Paul. Repairs were underway Saturday, but it may take until Monday before phones are operating again.

Thunderstorms that dumped varying amounts of rain throughout the metro were not the strongest of the season, but without question they brought the most water, said meteorologist Tony Zaleski of the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. The southern metro received the brunt of Friday’s overnight storms, while amounts tapered off as storms moved north.

Rain totals Saturday morning included 6.2 inches in Chaska, 4.87 at Chanhassen and 5.49 at Waconia. Minneapolis received 2.92 inches, while St. Paul received 2.51 inches.

Those storms gave way to temperatures in the 90s on Saturday, while more showers were forecast Saturday night. Expect highs of 85 today  with a 20 percent chance of showers.

Eagan Fire Chief Mike Scott said the lightning apparently struck the roof of the condominium, traveled through the electrical wires and into the unit that caught fire. The strike also shorted out the fire alarm system, so Eagan police had to knock on each door and get residents to leave in the middle of the night.

“They were going door to door in heavy smoke,” Scott said. “If it weren’t for them, we could have had injuries there.”

As residents were evacuating, the second call came at 2:20 a.m. A resident at Laurel Court smelled smoke and called 911. She was asked to make sure there was really another fire, and stepped outside to see flames, Scott said.

Damage in the second fire was minimal. Scott said that, too, was believed to have been started from a lightning strike, this one to the chimney, which traveled down to the siding that then caught fire.

Three firefighters were treated for exhaustion at the first fire, but were not seriously hurt. Firefighters remained on the scene until 5 a.m.

The Twin Cities Chapter of the Red Cross responded to the Shannon Glen Condos and helped two residents who were unable to get back in their units because of heavy fire, smoke and water damage. Both were senior citizens living in separate condos, said Red Cross spokesman David Schoeneck. The organization helped with contacting their insurance companies, but he was unsure whether the Red Cross had to secure lodging for them.

Scott said the two lightning strikes Saturday morning were a rare incidence.

“We get an occasional lightning strike, but I’ve been in the department since 1983, and I don’t remember getting two in that close of a proximity at the same time,” he said.

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921