Thunderstorms wreaked havoc over central Minnesota early Monday evening leaving thousands without power in the Brainerd area before moving into the Twin Cities metro area and repeating their performance. About 26,750 Xcel Energy customers in the metro area were without power at 7 a.m. Portions of I-494 that were closed by flooding around midnight are open this morning.
Five-inch hail was reported in Eden Prairie, parts of Blaine were covered with dime- to quarter-sized hail.