2 Dead After Strong Storms Sweep Through Minnesota

Eric Chaney
Published: July 21,2016
At least two people have died in northeast Minnesota after severe storms moved through the Upper Midwest early Thursday morning. Officials from the Superior National Forest confirmed to weather.com that two people died and several others were injured.
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the deceased were killed near Basswood Lake on the Canadian border in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. A seaplane was dispatched to rescue nine campers who phoned in a distress call around 5:15 a.m.,  Lt. Nate Skelton of the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office told the paper.
Preliminary reports indicate the two fatalities were on the Canadian side of the border, the paper reports, adding that several people were injured on the U.S. side. Lake County Sheriff Carey Johnson told the Star-Tribune that the injured were being taken to a hospital in Ely.
“A line of severe thunderstorms blasted through the area between 3 and 4 a.m. local time,” said weather.com meteorologist Tom Moore. “Winds that gusted to nearly 70 mph at times caused widespread tree and power line damage. These storms started in North Dakota Wednesday evening and progressed eastward through northern Minnesota and on into Wisconsin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.”
(MORE: Severe Storms Move East for the Weekend)

In Duluth, the fire department asked citizens to refrain from traveling on city streets Thursday morning after high winds downed trees and power lines across the city. Photos posted to social media show a gas station awning torn apart by high winds, as well as multiple trees down on top of houses.
No deaths or injuries had been reported as of Thursday morning, but more than 57,000 customers in the Duluth area were still without power due to downed lines, according to the Duluth News Tribune.
The fire department asked people to not cut trees on roadways or on private property until power lines are secured by Minnesota Power, KBJR-TV reported.
Thousands were left without power in the Twin Cities, KSTP.com said, as the storms downed trees and power lines there as well. About 25,000 customers were without power just before 5:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Xcel Energy.
The severe weather was triggered by disturbances sometimes called "ridge riders,” which move along the northern periphery of a hot ridge of high pressure aloft. That high-pressure system is the same one responsible for bringing dangerous heat to the Central and Eastern U.S. through this weekend.
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