major storm tore apart a northern section of Minneapolis just a few hours ago
http://www.kare11.com/news/article/92404...rnado-touchdown
shot of very-very heavy damage in that old neighborhood of well built homes and large old trees.TV shows people just coming out with chain saws to start clearing streets as fire and EMT can't get thru..worse in over 30 years. i heard the warning sirens at my home in South Minneapolis and could see very heavy weather to my north just after a hail storm passed thru.

Glad you're ok, Canoedogs. Hopefully everyone else got to safety and it's just property damage. (Haven't read the link yet.)

I was reading the Science blogs feed and saw a post about it. Doesn't say much about the tornadoes itself but talks about the strange windlessness of an area nearby.

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/live_blogging_a_tornado.php

i just read about the storm that killed 24 in Joplin,i was really focused on the one in Minneapolis.i guess when you hear the sirens and can see the black clouds over the house tops it's a lot more real.i have been a "that dog won't bite" kind of guy when it comes to some of this survival stuff but this was sort of a wake up call.we do get killer storms in the city,it's just not a farm country thing around here.next time i think i'll stay close to the basement door and not wander around the back yard taking pictures.

For my peace of mind, the area around the airport wasn't hit, correct?

I've got some friends there but at this time of day they'd be asleep (or, I suppose, busy with more important things than checking email)

The Mpls/St Paul airport area was not hit

We get tornadoes here all the time and people still aren't prepared. That being said, it is kinda hard to prepare for a tornado. There were news reports here of people being sucked out of their basement while seeking shelter.

Good to hear that your alright. BTW, the storm in Joplin has so far claimed 89 people. God Bless their souls.

From the photos I've seen, the level of destruction is unbelievable. This twister must have been a monster.

News reports claim the tornado was half-mile wide.

Msnbc.com has some sobering pictures of the devastation here.

How awful! The 10th photo shows nothing standing, destruction for as far as the eye can see!

And the hospital! If there's one thing people need in a disaster, it's their hospital.

Sue

after i posted the Minneapolis storm i saw the reports from Joplin and thought that we can clear the damage up here and rebuild but down there it looks impossible--

I'm in Maple Grove, we went to the basement when the sirens went off. Came back up when I saw on my iPhone it was to the east and moving NE.

You're mixing up your threads. That's the Joplin, Missouri tornado.

This is the Minneapolis, Minnesota thread.

You're only off about 500 miles

Here is the 'official' information about the storm:
https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pid=201105240128-KMPX-NOUS43-PNSMPX

This is the best description so far. The damage was substantial and the investigation/recovery goes on.

Paul in MN -