MPR’s Rupa Shenoy visits the scene in North Minneapolis just after a tornado went through and speaks with residents about their experiences as the storm struck. Report also includes comment from Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Ryabak.
North Minneapolis and nearby suburbs were struck by a devastating tornado on Sunday, May 22, 2011. One man died and 48 were injured from the tornado; another man died in the cleanup. Tornado impacted 3,700 structures, causing millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. It also displaced countless neighborhood residents. The path of storm extended from St. Louis Park to Blaine.
Transcripts
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RUPA SHENOY: Residents emerged to chaos. Parts of siding and roof shingles covered the roads. Old, tall trees lay on their sides, with their roots hanging down like tendrils. Other upended trees rested on homes that sat crushed.
MAN 1: Watch out y'all!
RUPA SHENOY: Emergency vehicles drove up onto people's yards to get around parked cars and fallen trees that were blocking roads. People ran to get out of the way.
MAN 2: (SHOUTING) Whose Toyota?
RUPA SHENOY: The tires left deep, muddy ditches behind. It was hot and muggy. The streets were clogged with cars trying to navigate a way out of the neighborhood. Everyone was on the street. Some people were just standing, staring. One woman sat crying. There was a big crowd on the corners of an intersection, where police officers were inspecting a brown van.
Michelle Daniels said a man had died while driving.
MICHELLE DANIELS: Well, the tree went through the window, the windshield. It was part of a tree. And it smashed the guy's face.
RUPA SHENOY: The Hennepin County Medical examiner confirmed the fatality. Police haven't released details of the death, or identified the victim. As officers rolled out yellow tape and sealed off the area, neighbors swapped stories of where they were when the tornado hit. Jasmine Wagner was taking a nap with her window open. She woke up when the rain started falling on her.
JASMINE WAGNER: It was big and black.
TANKIA BARNES: Big and black.
JASMINE WAGNER: Big. And it was like, Why? I don't know how our house didn't get swept up in it.
TANKIA BARNES: It's like, really, no houses are untouched. But it hit every last tree.
RUPA SHENOY: Wagner's friend, Tankia Barnes was there too.
TANKIA BARNES: We all ran down to the basement. And I have a son. And my mom was screaming grab Mark! Grab Mark! And I don't know.
JASMINE WAGNER: We was upstairs laying down. And we just heard her screaming, grab the baby. So we just all ran downstairs. And everybody fell downstairs. And we tried to get our dogs. We had to save the dogs and stuff.
TANKIA BARNES: The house was shaking.
RUPA SHENOY: The whole block had to evacuate because of a gas leak. Several power lines lay strewn over streets. Xcel Energy says at the height of the storm, about 22,000 metro area customers were without power. The height of the storm-- that's when Joseph Davis swears he heard the incoming tornado make a loud sound.
JOSEPH DAVIS: Wooh. And that's when I jumped up off the couch, went and got my old lady, threw her down on the floor, and pushed her under the bed. And next thing I know, glass comes from everywhere. Tore my house. Trees got through on top. Tore up my car. Did everything.
RUPA SHENOY: Can you live in the house?
JOSEPH DAVIS: No. There it is right there. A disaster.
RUPA SHENOY: Where are you going to go?
JOSEPH DAVIS: I don't know.
RUPA SHENOY: Many people with damaged homes expressed desperation. There was no hope in homeowner Tim Martin's face.
TIM MARTIN: My house is probably gone. That's it right there. My neighborhood's gone.
RUPA SHENOY: A lot of the desperation had to do with the fact that North Minneapolis is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the state.
MAYOR R.T. RYBAK: If a tornado could have picked the hardest hit economic area of Minnesota, it did an unfortunately real good job of doing it.
RUPA SHENOY: Minneapolis mayor RT Rybak says North Minneapolis' recovery from the tornado is going to be complicated.
MAYOR R.T. RYBAK: There are a lot of folks here, who are on the margin, who are going to need extra special help.
RUPA SHENOY: He says city and state officials will meet today to begin to plan how to give them that help. Rupa Shenoy, Minnesota Public Radio News.