CHANHASSEN, Minn. — Xcel Energy crews have restored power to thousands of customers who lost service when damaging winds and hail moved through Minnesota's midsection.
Xcel says about 5,000 customers remained without power from the Twin Cities area to the La Crosse, Wis., area by late afternoon Wednesday. Xcel says more than 70,000 customers had no electricity at one time or another after the storms struck Tuesday evening.
The remaining outages are concentrated in Eden Prairie, Edina, St. Louis Park and Bloomington, among other communities in the west metropolitan area.
Bloomington was one of the hardest hit communities. Residents spent the morning cleaning up trees, branches and debris in their yards. The Eden Prairie Police Department circulated a photo of a squad car that lost its rear window because of hail.
