Duluth Storm Damage Recap

Crumbled chimney bricks on the roof of the Board of Trade Building.

Crumbled chimney bricks on the roof of the Board of Trade Building.

A severe storm ripped through the Duluth area around 3:30 a.m., knocking down trees and leaving many without power and running water.

There are two confirmed deaths from the storm, both Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness campers who were part of a Boy Scouts of America Northern Tier High Adventure Program. A 39-year-old female and a 13-year-old male were killed by falling trees on the shore of Basswood Lake. Two others in the group were injured.

The Duluth Fire Department advised no travel this morning. There are multiple power lines down and streets blocked.

The Board of Trade Building is closed due to structural issues after lightning hit the chimney and sent parts of it through the roof. The neighboring Duluth Government Services Center has two weather stations on its roof, the newer of which clocked wind gusts in excess of 100 m.p.h.

The Duluth Police Department received several reports this morning of trees and debris in the roadway and advises people to stay away from downed power lines. Public works and Minnesota Power have been notified.

Power outages have caused many signalized intersections to be out-of-service. Motorists should be cautious at uncontrolled intersections and remember to yield to traffic on the right.

The city of Duluth is recommending citizens limit water use due to an electrical outage at the main water pumping station.

Most local television stations are off the air. Only WDSE-TV is broadcasting.

The Duluth Area Family YMCA is offering free usage of its facility while the power is out for people who need a warm shower, water or free wi-fi. The Superior Douglas County Family YMCA has opened its pool for free use today to help residents beat the heat.

The Duluth Transit Authority is providing free rides to citizens who board regular-route buses and indicate they would like to get to the “Cooling Center” at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. These passengers will alight (exit) buses at the Duluth Transportation Center where they will transfer onto a shuttle bus in Bay J that will transport them to the DECC. The digital destination signs on this bus will read, “22 Shuttle Downtown DECC.” Shuttle passengers will be dropped off at Entrance D in the DECC’s parking lot. Amenities available include: water from drinking fountains, restrooms, air conditioning and wi-fi. The DTA anticipates this service to run through the early evening.

6 Comments

David Beard

about 8 years ago

power-lines-and-garage-street

Naomi has great pictures on Duluth Daily Photo.

Bret

about 8 years ago

I heard many of the trees showed signs of alligator teeth marks.

jessige

about 8 years ago

At least it wasn't sharks.

Terry G.

about 8 years ago

I'm guessing after power and street access are restored, a major news item will likely be damage to some of the parks. Hartley and Bagley are virtually inaccessible. I'd assume Lester Park, Hawk Ridge, Tischer Creek and others are similar.

Paul Lundgren

about 8 years ago

Havoc in the Northland

In the absence of a movement on PDD to name the storm, I guess we'll have to go with "Havoc in the Northland 2016." But I'm willing to hear alternate ideas.

TV stations returned to the air Friday evening. 

The power was restored at the Lakewood water plant late Thursday night.

Brian Barber

about 8 years ago

The city of Duluth has a resource page with updates at duluthmn.gov/2016-summer-storm.

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