Minneapolis works to clear storm debris and fix thousands of power outages across metro area

Thousands of Minneapolis and Twin Cities metro residents remained without power Monday afternoon following severe thunderstorms over the weekend, but electric utility and city cleanup officials said the vast majority of outages will be fixed by Tuesday.

As of Monday afternoon, there were roughly 12,000 Xcel Energy customers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin who were without power, most of which were in the west metro, according to Xcel spokesman Kevin Coss. Power has been restored to about 90% of all the customers who had outages, he added in a news release.

“We anticipate restoring service to the majority of these customers by [Monday night], though some work will likely continue into Tuesday,” Coss said in an email Monday.

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the city’s Public Works departments have also been working to clear downed trees. The cleanup process is slower because of the park workers strike, Park Board spokeswoman Robin Smothers said in an email.

“The overall cleanup for this storm may be slower due to the strike, but the initial situational awareness, opening of streets and cleanup is underway,” Smothers said. “The work will get done.”

Roughly 71% of the Park Board’s arborists were out from work Monday because they were striking, Smothers said. The Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 363 consists of more than 200 permanent and 100 seasonal employees.

The union members who are working and other forestry professionals who are not in the union are still responding to calls, Smothers said. By mid-morning Monday, there were 133 tree-related calls made since Sunday, and about a third had already been cleared.

Southwest Minneapolis had the most severe impact in the city, but damage occurred across the city, said Joe Paumen, Minneapolis’ director of Transportation Maintenance and Repair, in a statement.

All reports of trees blocking roadways had been cleared by the afternoon, Paumen said.

Weekend storms present a challenge because Park Board forestry crews typically work weekdays, with a smaller number on call over the weekend, Smothers said. It’s standard practice for the Park Board, which is semi-autonomous, to work with the city of Minneapolis’ Public Works department on after-hour emergencies to address fallen trees. The Park Board is also working alongside Xcel Energy.

Downed trees in parks are among the last to be removed unless they are a threat to public safety, Smothers said.

Outage maps for Xfinity showed that thousands of its customers remained without internet service across Minneapolis by Monday afternoon.