Power outages darken weekend in the metro

Amidst all of the storm damage Friday night, residents in New Brighton and St. Paul are trying to stay cool. 

Several homes throughout the New Brighton area were without power until early Saturday evening, while St. Paul is dealing with terrible damage from what Friday’s storm left behind.   

One St. Paul resident had to deal with the storms unfortunate mess on his birthday. 

“I was like, 'Woah, woah, I did not know wind could be that strong to knock down a whole tree.' I was surprised,” the 11-year-old birthday boy, Elliot Kramer, said. 

The St. Paul family took advantage of a bad situation by taking a picture of the fallen tree in their yard. While Elliot and his family were able to turn the day around, crews from Xcel Energy had to deal with all of the fallen debris. 

Xcel Energy crews endured Saturday's scorching temperatures in bucket trucks to make sure streets were cleared and power was restored. About 650 staff members have been working nonstop around the clock to restore all the power.

 “This is the worst time to have a power outage with extreme temperatures such as what we’re experiencing,” said Laura McCarten, Xcel Energy regional vice president. 

Xcel is anticipating that 40,000 homes could still be without power early Sunday morning. Call 1-800 895-1999 if you see any power lines knocked down in your area.