Tornado Hits Minneapolis

A tornado hit the City last week, damaging some buildings in midtown and downtown, including the convention center. One of the more devastating effects has been the loss of over 250 trees in the public right of way.



I'm proud of the City's response to this incident. Public Works and the Park Board cleared the tree debris to reopen streets and alleys, street and sewer crews checked storm drains and catch-basins to ensure they were clear to prevent potential flooding, the police instituted extra patrols in the area as a preventive measure, Regulatory Services staff went out to ensure that tree companies and contractors were properly licensed and building repairs were being done correctly.


The City has also jumped in to try to mitigate the loss of trees. The CityTrees program earlier this year did not sell all 1,000 trees, leaving some excess capacity. The City has decided to make these trees available (for $25) to only those residents in the blow-down area. It will be some time before the new boulevard trees that the Park Board plans to plant and these City-supported trees on private land can match the canopy of the 250 mature trees we lost, but it's a step in the right direction.