August 2007 Storm

August 11, 2007 brought one of the strongest and most destructive storms I have seen in my Eagan neighborhood.

Around 3:15–3:30 in the morning, I was awakened by a loud sound and then the sudden sound of silence that follows a power outage. After being up for about an hour I went back to bed.

After a few hours of sleep, I went outside to survey the damage. Nearly everyone on my street had tree damage and many were beyond saving. Some of the neighbors were already cutting down their severely damaged trees. The neighbor next door had a downed line in the back yard. From that moment on I could hear chainsaws running thoughout the day. Power was still out so I made a run to the store for ice. It was too late to save the ice cream treats. After I got hold of a chainsaw I spent most of the day working on the boulevard tree.

It began to get very uncomfortable outside. It was hot, sunny, and very humid. For relief, I drove around to see how extensive the damage was. There was damage all over several blocks in every direction, but our street got hit harder than most. Word got out and our street turned into a bit of a tourist attraction.

Later in the afternoon, I saw thick black smoke rising in the distance. A house was on fire one block away. Sirens could be heard for about the next 20 minutes. I decided to check it out. The entire house was ablaze. Someone at the scene said that it started in the garage. I was also told that the owners were out of the country. One cat was rescued, but sadly, one perished.

I got called into work for a couple hours. It was relief for me as the power was still out. I got back home and continued with the cleanup. The power company came out to fix the downed line and finally, around 7:30, the power finally came back on after being out for about 16 hours.

This turned out to be one of the more eventful days for me in recent memory.