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Still no power, so many of power poles were knocked down in the alleyways. The video link is two blocks from our house and its typical of what a lot of the neighborhood looks like. Thankfully we are fine and so is the house, the washers and the vacuums. The roof will need some repair and so will the fence but that's what insurance is for.

What is amazing is how the storm took out so many huge trees but not one house had any major damaged by the tornado alone. All of the major damage to houses was caused by huge trees falling on them. Its a testament to 1920s and 1930s built houses. I'm not so sure if a new housing development would have faired so well...

 
Glad to hear that everyone up in the Cities faired the storm. The southern branch of the same storm came through Waterloo around 4 PM yesterday. No major issues or damages here. A few tornadoes were spotted up by the MN/Iowa border later in the afternoon.

Back in July I took a weekend off and went up for a quick visit to see Don. While the weather was cool and beautiful up in Coon Rapids a horrible storm came through Cedar Falls/Waterloo, causing similar damage to what happened in Minneapolis. Thankfully I didn't have any trees down but many neighbors did.

I love the Midwest!

Ben
 
Glad to hear everyone is alright! I guess were are pretty lucky in this part of Canada that we don't have violent weather in summer... We just have ice storms in winter!
Here's hoping that you are all spared any further bad weather and the damage it can bring!
 
Robert those pictures are just incredible. I can’t imagine how much force it took to bring down those established trees. I am thankful (and I know you are) that no one was apparently hurt. About two weeks ago we had a mild storm that toppled a tree on a moving vehicle, the driver was badly injured. I hope the clean up goes smoothly and it is not so hot slowing things down.
 
Here, we get some fierce wind storms.

Last Fall the wind was so high it ripped a slate from the roof. While falling toward the ground, a gust caught it and sent it smashing through a second floor window. Thankfully, the house was built in 1892 (Original slate roof and windows). $10.00 and about an hour of work later, my housemate had installed a new pane of glass. Our old single pane windows aren't that energy efficient, but thy are inexpensive and easy to repair and maintain, and they just last and last and last! Whatever energy savings we could achieve by replacing the windows is negated by the cheap maintenance and repair, and extreme longevity of the old ones.

New windows tend to last only 15-25 years (it's in my thesis) but our old ones are going on 118 years and still doing just fine!

I'm glad everyone out in Minnie is ok and that nothing irreplaceable was lost or damaged. Plant some new trees and as long as you have to repair your homes, take advantage of the opportunity to do some maintenance too (I've been meaning to clean those gutters, paint that X, etc.).

As George Carlin said, "If you don't like the weather, move!"
Dave
 
Glad to hear everyone is ok.

Looks like there will be lots of free firewood this winter.
 
Be very careful when filing claims with your insurance company for things like fences and light damage to your roof. Most insurance companies consider these "nusiance" claims and can lead to policy cancellation.

When Ike came through here it knocked down one of my fences. I contacted the agent and we determined the damage was about $1200.
She said the company would pay, but that they would probably cancel me later. She said home owner insurance is for things that are pretty major, like the roof being torn off completely, fire burning your house down completely, etc. We have never had any claims with our homeowners, but companies are getting really picky, especially here on the Texas Gulf Coast.

BTW, I replaced the fence myself for a cost of about $300. and an entire weekend. It was actually kind of fun to do.
 
> She said home owner insurance is for things that are pretty major, like the roof being torn off completely, fire burning your house down completely, etc. <

That's ridiculous. Homeowner's insurance has a deductible, and any damage over that amount is a valid claim.

If an insurance company cancels a policy over a $1200 claim, that's their business. They'll almost certainly lose much more than that in premiums for that policy over the following years.
 
I explained the damage to my insurance agent this morning and he said not to worry it will all be covered.

In my last house about 9 years ago we had a hail storm that did some relatively minor damage to my 20 year old roof at that time and they replaced the entire roof. This is the same agent and policy just a new address. But we will see.
 
Robert and Fred, I am so thankful to hear that you are both safe and that you had no major damage done to your home!!! Sure looks like there is going to have to be a lot of clean up in those areas!
 
Ben:

"Back in July I took a weekend off and went up for a quick visit to see Don. While the weather was cool and beautiful up in Coon Rapids a horrible storm came through Cedar Falls/Waterloo, causing similar damage to what happened in Minneapolis. Thankfully I didn't have any trees down but many neighbors did.

I love the Midwest!"

Oh noooooooooo!

What I am I getting into? ;-)

I hope to be up that way soon and to get to meet some of our Midwestern contingent.
 
Glad to hear all my Minneapolis buds are fine after the storm.
But, what a shame to lose all those big trees.
It takes so long to grow to a majestic size and then they're gone in a flash.
Yes, midwestern storms are amazing.
Love the storms, just hate the damage when they get tooo big.
Good Luck and everyone take care!!
Pat
 
Greg:

Plan is to move to Iowa at the end of September. I am not definitely decided on what city. Waterloo looks very nice (Ben makes it sound like something out of a wonderful old movie!), but Mason City has the largest concentration of Prairie-Style architecture in the country, even more than Oak Park outside Chicago. So that's another possibility. Now that my partner is gone, there's nothing keeping me here, and I'd like to have the adventure of relocating from here in Atlanta, where I was born.

Anyway, I hope to meet summa youse soon!
 
Quite a storm! Luckily you all got through without major damage.

I must say I like storms! I quite enjoyed the ride with Robert, Jon and Eddy from Omaha to Minneapolis. We had lots of rain and thunder on our trip. Adventure!

Tonight we had a storm here too, nothing like you had, so I could sit with the windows open and enjoy it.

Take care,

Louis
 
I'm not sure which is worse, tornados and hurricanes or earthquakes. Earthquakes that do damage don't happen very often but of course there's no warning and you have no idea if the quake is a prelude to "the big one." I suppose the weather-related catastrophies are worse since they happen so frequently. Does regular home-owner's insurance cover tornado damage? You have to buy optional ($$$) earthquake insurance in California and the deductable is huge, about $45,000 on my modest home, and the it pays almost nothing for damage to things inside.
 
Whether or not your insurance company considers paying a claim its all part of that law that was passed several years ago where an insurance company can set your rates by your credit report and how many claims you have made in the past.

We have never had a claim and have good credit, in fact the company we use is Amica Insurance and get get very good rates with them. Amica supposedly has the least amount of complaints of all the insurance companies in the business.
 

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