Warning Sirens Silenced by Storm in Sauk Centre

Nearly 900 Xcel Energy customers remained without power Monday night. That's down from a peak of 54,000 during Sunday night's storms.

Most of the state, including the Twin Cities, was under a severe thunderstorm watch until 2 a.m. Monday, with the watches being upgraded to warnings as the storm moved in from the west across the metro.

Areas northwest of the metro appear to be the hardest hit.

The Mayor of Sauk Centre tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS with winds at about 84 miles per hour, an estimated 100 buildings were damaged, and trees and power lines were knocked down. Sauk Centre was closed off to anyone who did not live in the area Sunday night while crews accessed the damage, and was reopened around 3 a.m.

The city's seven warning sirens never sounded during the storm. City officials say the sirens had just been tested last Thursday. They have determined the power went out in the city about two minutes before the sirens would have sounded.

In Forest Lake, the storms brought trees down, damaged cars, toppled outdoor furniture, and brought a power pole and lines down. The area suffered a large number of power outages after a circuit was knocked out by downed trees.

Around 8:48 p.m., a trained spotter reported a tornado on the ground in Grove City in Meeker County. Tornado sirens went off for a short time in Wright County followed by heavy rains and lots of wind.

Sirens started sounding in Ramsey and Washington counties just before 10:30 p.m. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Chief Meteorologist Dave Dahl says the sirens were sounded because the storm had the potential of carrying winds with speeds up to 75 mph. He called it a very severe storm, and advised people to take cover.

The storm weakened as it made its way across much of the Twin Cities. No storm related injuries have been reported.