Neighbors and volunteers have helped Forest Lake dig out from the damage left by a storm that swept through the region earlier this week.
Trees and power lines were felled and lake docks flipped when the storm hit about 2 a.m. Wednesday.
The aftermath of the storm kept city staff working throughout the day. According to Forest Lake city administrator Aaron Parrish, public works staff members averaged more than 20 hours on Wednesday. And police and fire departments responded to around 100 calls from residents, he said.
The National Weather Service says strong winds caused damage from Anoka County east into Wisconsin. A nearly nine-mile long path of damage was determined to be an EF-1 tornado, with winds of up to 90 miles an hour. Despite all the damage, there were no injuries.
According to Xcel Energy, 65,000 customers lost electricity because of the storm. Power was restored by 10 p.m., Xcel officials said Thursday.
Among the crews helping the city recover was the Forest Lake High School boys hockey team. They offered up their services via Facebook on Wednesday morning and spent the day cutting and moving fallen branches, flipping docks back into place and picking up debris.
The response was overwhelming, head coach Jon Loo said.
by Selam Berhea
July 13, 2017
