Power restored to thousands of MN energy customers

3:34 PM, Jun 19, 2012   |    comments
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MINNEAPOLIS - Crews are making progress toward restoring power after strong thunderstorms pounded the Twin Cities metro area overnight, but more storms are on the way.

Roughly 104,000 Xcel Energy customers lost power in the storms. By Tuesday evening Xcel said it had restored service to 96,000 customers. An estimated 2,700 customers in the west metro and 11,400 in the east metro remained without power.

Xcel expects to restore power to the vast majority by 11 p.m. Wednesday.

The city of Burnsville said Tuesday afternoon that some areas may be without power until Wednesday afternoon.

Dakota Electric said an estimated 500 customers were stil without power Tuesday afternoon, down from a high of more than 10,000. All Dakota Electric customers should have power restored by Tuesday night.

The southern and eastern Twin Cities suburbs sustained the most extensive damage to trees and power lines.

A tree crashed through a mobile home in Farmington, causing bumps and bruises to two men who had to crawl out through the jagged hole. At the Lakeville airport, two planes came to rest stacked on top of each other.

(Copyright 2012 by KARE and The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)