Star Tribune
Scattered thunderstorms flood some Twin Cities roads, down trees
Scattered thunderstorms Saturday caused some flash flooding on Twin Cities roads and downed some trees and powerlines.
While Minneapolis didn’t even record an inch of rain, other cities were hit hard with a lot of rain all at once. Some spots from St. Paul to Cottage Grove and South St. Paul recorded as much as 3 inches of rain, said Mike Griesinger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen.
“[It was] very spotty, very hit and miss,” he said.
The flash flooding temporarily closed some roadways, including in West St. Paul, before the water receded later Saturday. From Howard Lake in Wright County to New Germany in Carver County, the band of thunderstorms caused downed trees and powerlines, according to the Weather Service.
As of Saturday night, Xcel Energy reported about 2,000 customers were without power across the metro, mostly in Hennepin County.
In Renville County, near Redwood Falls, about 100 miles west of Minneapolis, a line of storms moved through, followed by a second round of storms that barely budged for two hours. As a result, an area about the size of Minneapolis was drenched in 8 to 10 inches of rainfall in a short timespan.
“They just got blitzed,” Griesinger said.
Most of Minnesota is experiencing a drought after an unusually dry few weeks and there’s no rain in the immediate forecast.
“We’ll take anything at this point,” Griesinger said. “We could use the rain.”
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in Minneapolis on Sunday as part of worldwide demonstrations on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war. The protests come as Israel has intensified its airstrikes in northern Gaza and southern Lebanon.
Protesters in Minneapolis carried signs depicting the flag of Palestine as they marched through the city streets. The demonstration was organized by American Muslims for Palestine-Minnesota. Across the world, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events took place Sunday in Berlin, London and elsewhere.
Monday will mark a year since Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostage in a surprise attack that shocked the world. Since then Israeli forces have staged an aggressive assault of the Gaza Strip that has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A National Park Service ranger died on Sunday as he tried to rescue a family who had become stranded on an island in Voyageurs National Park.
St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said in a phone call that the ranger was attempting to rescue a father and his two children and encountered dangerous conditions on Namakan Lake. Strong winds whipped up waves that reached between 5 and 6 feet.
“The boat flipped in the waves,” Ramsay said, and the ranger, a sworn law enforcement officer, died. The family survived the incident.
“Our hearts go out to our National Park Service rangers and their loss as well as the ranger who died in the line of duty today,” he added.
Ramsay said he did not know the exact time of the attempted rescue, and said a statement would be sent out shortly with more details on the incident.
Photos: Pro-Palestinian activists march in Minneapolis
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