Thousands still without power after another night of storms

Thousands of people were still without power Friday afternoon after a couple nights of strong storms across Minnesota.

As of 5:05 p.m. Friday, Xcel Energy reported just under 400 outages affecting around 7,000 people.

The company said crews are working to restore power as quickly as possible.

PHOTOS: NWS confirms Coon Rapids tornado in Wednesday storms, more damage reported Thursday night

Residents can report an outage to Xcel by:

• Submitting an online report here.
• Reporting an outage via text by texting ‘OUT’ to 98936, or by texting ‘STAT’ to the same number to check the status of an outage.
• Calling 1-800-895-1999 and following the prompts. Once the cause of the problem is identified, an Xcel Energy representative can provide the caller with an estimated restoration time.

Customers are reminded to not call law enforcement to report an outage or inquire about restoration time. Instead, you’re asked to call your power company, or find an estimated restoration time on the company’s outage map.