Commercial Roof Repair Underway After Rare ‘Bow Echo’ Storm Ravages Minneapolis MN On May 11, 2022
Commercial Roofing & Restoration
The Greater Minneapolis area was overrun by a rare “bow echo” severe weather event on Wednesday, May 11th, which left upwards of 75,000 residents without power and potentially millions in wind and hail property damage losses.
Meteorologists deemed the horrific weather patterns a bow echo because large bands of rain, hail and high winds trekked across an area in curved bands. But for property owners in Minnesota, hail and roof wind damage put their livelihoods in jeopardy of rainwater ruining inventories and equipment. RestoreMasters has alerted every available roofing & restoration contractor in the region to work tirelessly to implement emergency roof leak repair efforts for damaged commercial buildings.
“In addition to knocking down power lines, wind gusts of nearly 80 mph also sent trees onto cars and buildings around the Twin Cities — with one large fallen tree cutting through the middle of a home in Coon Rapids,” according to an MPR News report. “Weather spotters also reported damage to some structures in Madelia, including the roof being ripped off of a building under construction. Damage to outbuildings was noted in the Sanborn and Buffalo Lake areas.”
A local wind and hailstorm damage map shows widespread fronts strewn across the Minneapolis area on Wednesday, May 11th, following the May 9th icefall. The yellow and orange areas indicate hailstorms peppering the region. Yellow demonstrates ice as large as 1.25 inches in diameter impacting cities and towns. Dark orange indicates larger ice stones of up to 2.5 inches striking rooftops and cracking windshields. Light gray areas show high winds, and the dark gray indicates tornado-force wind likely wreaked havoc on neighborhoods and business districts.
Images and videos posted on social media, by residents and weather experts.
Minneapolis waiting for the storm to arrive #mnwx pic.twitter.com/Pm4GqLTNht
— Justin (@justinmnwx) May 11, 2022
Storm coming, maybe.
— Kristen Ray (@KrisRayAuthor) May 11, 2022
Lake Nokomis, Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/U9yGc5SGPW
Here's a look at the hail that fell this afternoon in central Minnesota.
— WCCO - CBS Minnesota (@WCCO) May 11, 2022
More storms are on the way. Get the latest here: https://t.co/NCsSIHdCtp pic.twitter.com/vlj8aJIyyc
Hail damage in #zimmerman Minnesota. Car was sitting in our apartment complex’s parking lot. #Minnesota #minnesotaweather @FOX9 @kare11wx pic.twitter.com/xhJEPJzJBR
— Lexi Wertzler (@wertzler_lexi) May 11, 2022
The National Weather Service tornado, high winds, and hail damage map shows a massive storm cluster over Minnesota, with hail, high winds, and multiple twisters touching down. Other states that experienced severe weather on May 11, 2022, include South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, and the Texas-Oklahoma Panhandle. National reports accounted for six tornados, 97 high wind incidents, and 96 hailstorms. Wide-reaching sources indicate the following communities suffered high wind, hailstone, and tornado property damage.
- Anoka: The County Seat saw hail the size of half-dollars spread across neighborhoods.
- Becker: Lime-sized ice caused hail property damage along Highway 10 and north into nearby Clear Lake.
- Coon Rapids: Wind gusts reached 58 mph, and a fully grown tree crushed a residential property. A twister touched down to the northeast, cutting a path 50 yards wide over three miles as winds exceeded 80 mph.
- Big Lake: Storm fronts doused the Sherburne County town with hail as large as tennis balls, pounding automobiles and inflicting roof damage.
- Elk River: Tree limbs were reportedly downed around the Elk River Walmart.
- Falcon Heights: Trees as wide as 12 inches were reportedly snapped as winds near 60 mph.
- Minneapolis: Strong wind gusts dropped trees on automobiles, roofs, and extensive property damage losses occurred.
- Robbinsdale: Toppled trees and broken limbs blocked roads along the north side of Crystal Lake.
- Roseville: A powerful wind gust broke open the doors of a Target department store.
- Rush City: Hail upwards of 1.25 inches cracked glass and impacted roofing systems.
- Saint Francis: Hail the size of ping pong balls made landfall. High winds uprooted trees, and flying debris resulted in significant roof damage.
- Saint Paul: The Twin City suffered widespread hail damage to roofing systems. Ice strikes were larger than hen eggs in some areas.
- Zimmerman: Hailstorms dumped ice the size of ping pong balls along U.S. Highway 169.
A Twitter post highlighted by the West Central Tribune shows a Chisago County Sheriff holding what appears to be a hailstone as large as a volleyball. The largest hail previously recorded was the size of a softball, discovered six miles west of Roseau in Roseau County.
Commercial building owners impacted by the extreme bow echo are urged to have a roof leak repair inspection conducted to ensure water damage does not exacerbate losses. RestoreMasters emergency roofing contractors recently responded to the scene of a tornado in Wichita, Kansas, on April 29, 2022.
Strong winds can rip open some roofing systems and cause severe roof wind damage. Some older roofs can be damaged by winds as low as 50 miles per hour. The intensity of roof damage is determined by various factors: the velocity and impact of flying debris, the quality of the original installation, the building height and location in relation to other buildings, the angle and shape of the roof, and the material used on the roof.
RestoreMasters is a hail damage roofing and restoration contractor and provides storm damage restoration services including: commercial and industrial roofing, emergency roof repair, tarping & shrink wrap roofing, tile roof repair, water mitigation, burst pipe repair, water damage restoration, fire damage cleanup & fire damage restoration, debris cleanup, disaster response, tornado damage roofing & restoration, hurricane damage roofing & restoration, mold remediation, interior restoration and construction services to rebuild your property.For emergency services
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