Accidents and Disasters

Wildfires rage in northern Minnesota [PHOTOS]

As of this morning, wildfires that started yesterday in north-central Minnesota covered over 8,000 acres of land and forced the closure of roads in an area including Park Rapids, Menagha, and Red Lake.SEE ALSO: Nicolas Hutchinson, Uptown fire victim, left with clothes he's wearing, phone and compute ... More >>

Bloomington man injured after falling into 8-foot sinkhole [IMAGE]

As if we all don't already have enough things to worry about already, here's another.SEE ALSO: Small alligator found in Bloomington; fisherman says "there's a big one back there too" [PHOTO] A 65-year-old Bloomington man was hospitalized after he fell in an 8- to 9-foot-deep sinkhole near 102nd Stre ... More >>

Fourplay

Did Rybak lie about I-35W bridge collapse during DNC speech? [VIDEO]

SEE ALSO: -- R.T. Rybak is a finalist for the 2012 World Mayor Prize-- RT Rybak blames pot smokers for Minneapolis murdersSome Republicans are upset by comments Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak made about bridges and infrastructure during his DNC speech... but do they have a legitimate beef?

Amy Senser was on cell phone during fatal accident, police say

Amy Senser was talking on the phone when she ran over Anousone Phanthavong, a new revelation leading prosecutors to file a new criminal vehicular homicide charge against her for reckless driving.The new charge means Senser faces three counts of criminal vehicular homicide for running over Phanthavon ... More >>

Amy Senser trial will happen in Hennepin County

​Amy Senser's trial will not be moving to Kandiyohi County. Hennepin County Judge Daniel H. Mabley denied Senser's request to have her trial moved from Minneapolis to Kandiyohi County. Senser stands charged with criminal vehicular homicide for running True Thai chef Anousone Phanthavong over off ... More >>

Joe Senser's: Doors close on another restaurant

Just days after it was announced that Amy Senser, wife of restaurant owner Joe Senser, would stand trial on charges of criminal vehicular homicide, a sign went up on the doors of the former Viking's restaurant in Plymouth, saying that it would close for good. The sign cited financial and economic re ... More >>

Amy Senser will stand trial for criminal vehicular homicide

​Amy Senser will stand trial on criminal vehicular homicide charges April 23, a Hennepin County judge ruled this morning. Senser allegedly ran over Anousone Phanthavong, the head cook at True Thai, last August, and left the scene of the accident. Prosecutors unveiled an amended complaint late Janu ... More >>

Linda Hamm had open vodka bottle in her car when she ran over pedestrian, cops say

​Linda Hamm has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide for running over Ann Blake last month. Maple Grove police responded to reports on January 31 of a vehicle driving erratically and found it going eastbound on Elm Creek Boulevard at Main Street in Maple Grove. A police officer pulled up ... More >>

Victims families speak at I-35W bridge memorial [VIDEO]

Hundreds were on hand for the 35W Bridge Remembrance Garden dedication.​After a long day of torrential downpours, the clouds parted over Gold Medal Park yesterday evening just for the dedication of the new I-35W bridge collapse memorial.Emotions ran high as a representative for each of the 13 vict ... More >>

Tornado warning over for Twin Cities area [UPDATE]

​The National Weather Service in Chanhassen issued a tornado warning for the suburbs south and east of the Twin Cities at about 2:45 p.m., after radar indicated that a storm capable of producing a tornado moved through Rosemount, St. Paul Park, Inver Grove Heights, Eagan and Sunfish and St. Pa ... More >>

Landlords screw north Minneapolis tornado victims, but are also victims themselves

Tony WebsterNorth Minneapolis landlords are holding rent deposits from people whose homes were damaged by the tornado​It's been three weeks since the tornado devastated North Minneapolis--and many victims are still waiting for their landlords to make things right.

Minneapolis tornado Super Saturday relief drive scheduled

Tony WebsterThe mess on Broadway after the twister struck.​There's still a huge mess in North Minneapolis in the wake of May's tornado, even after the big June 4 city-sponsored cleanup effort, and people still need help. So, this weekend, a coalition of volunteer groups is launching a relief d ... More >>

Local soccer hooligans, er, fans, complain about tornado warnings

This tornado warning interfered with the Champions League final.​Last Saturday, when tornadoes were carving up more of our fair state, Fox 9 interrupted their coverage of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League finals to allow meteorologist Tim Blotz to give weathe ... More >>

Salvation Army tornado donations overwhelming, only accepting cash now

Tony WebsterAmbulance crews in the disaster zone.​So many people have donated clothes and other goods to the Salvation Army in the wake of Sunday's tornado that the organization can't accept any more. "In just two days we've filled two whole semi-trucks with all the food, clothing, diapers, hygie ... More >>

Floyd David Whitfield named second tornado casualty

Hennepin CountyCleanup from the storm continues.​The Hennepin County medical examiner has released the identity of the second man known to have died in Sunday's tornado: Floyd David Whitfield. He was a god-fearing man, and on his way home from church on Sunday when the tornado struck. The howling ... More >>

Minneapolis City Council OKs disaster declaration

The process of seeking federal assistance has started.​As expected, the Minneapolis City Council voted this morning to extend Mayor R.T. Rybak's disaster declaration in the wake of Sunday's tornado. It also heard that preliminary damage estimates are running north of $166 million.

Minneapolis tornado rated up to EF 2, winds reached 135 mph

mollyapolis/flickrSunday's tornado classified as an EF2 at times.​The truth is that you probably don't care much whether the National Weather Service designates a tornado an EF 1 or an EF 2 after your home has been shredded, and you've lost loved ones or seen them injured. All you know is, hel ... More >>

Yep, St. Michael tornado confirmed [VIDEO]

The tornado touched down in St. Michael.​It's not a tornado until the National Weather Service says it's a tornado, so now we can say for sure that the funnel cloud caught on camera the other evening in St. Michael was the real deal. The same storm that sent us running for cover from massive ... More >>

After the quake weaves together two stories

It's a play about taking chances

Forecast in St. Paul: Radioactive rain

TopatoMaybe Blinky makes a guest appearance in the Mississippi this summer?​Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency say it's raining radiation in St. Paul as a result of the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. The readings show elevated levels of radioactive iodine-131 i ... More >>

Origami, Nami, and Wakame join forces to help Japan's Tsunami survivors

WakameEat sushi, help earthquake victims​CNN and BBC switched their 24-hour coverage from Japan earthquake to Libya last week, but the hardship for survivors is far from over. Behind the news coverage of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima are hundreds of families in evacuation shelters, as well as fa ... More >>

St. Paul braces for flooding and other people's waste

Photo: Tom GazpachoToilet plungers may be needed in St. Paul.​It's bad enough to learn that dozens of Minnesota communities flushed their human waste into flooding rivers last week. Now we find out some of that crap is going to flow downhill into St. Paul, along with expected rising waters. T ... More >>

Minnesota twisters can't beat the Fire Tornado [VIDEO]

Mulling It OverFire tornado DESTROY!​Think we've got it bad in Minnesota, now that we've got the most tornadoes in the nation?Forget about it. Those are just regular tornadoes. Down in Brazil today, they've got something a little more attention-grabbing: fire tornadoes.It hasn't rained in the Braz ... More >>

Minnesota tornado count leads U.S. in 2010

Minnesota's 2010 tornado count leads the U.S.​It isn't even close. Minnesota isn't the land of 10,00 lakes anymore, it's tornado alley. According to NOAA, 122 twisters have been reported here so far this year. The nearest competitor? Texas, with 87. Ha! Take that you cowboys.

Video of tornado destroying Minnesota home

A tornado rips through a house in Campbell, Minnesota.​Saturdays storms brought a deluge of water to the Twin Cities, but three hours Northwest in Campbell, they were dealing with tornadoes.This funnel cloud looks like something out of a movie--or maybe Lost's smoke monster come to life. And you c ... More >>

Tornado warnings up for Twin Cities suburbs [UPDATED]

Image via NOAAFollow the action via some cool interactive maps on the NOAA website here. ​The tornado watch we told you about this morning was upgraded to a warning for Dakota and Goodhue counties this afternoon by the National Weather Service, capping a stinking hot day today. WCCO reported p ... More >>

Tornado count overestimated by National Weather Service

Image via YouTubeDiscovery Channel storm chasers made tracks to Minnesota​It now appears that there were some wild imaginations and miscounts at work last Thursday when a hellacious storm system ripped across the state, killing at least three people. Those 34 twisters we and others reported? ... More >>

Rochester plane crash kills three [UPDATED]

​Updated: Bodies have been recovered. See below for details. A small, single-engine airplane crashed a mile north of the Rochester airport last night, killing three people aboard and narrowly missing at least one home on the ground. The plane came down in the woods 100 yards from the home of ... More >>

Tornado watch in Twin Cities until 9 p.m. [UPDATED]

​Updated: A twister touched down near Fergus Falls, killing one person, and Wadena has been heavily damaged by strong winds, MPR reports. But the worst of the storm gave the Twin Cities a miss. Via NOAA: A tornado watch wsa in effect for the following Minnesota counties, including those in th ... More >>

BP's oil spill would cover a big chunk of Minnesota

Via If It Was My HomeSome local context​How big is the oil spill unleashed by the blowout of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico? One way to get a handle on the size of the disaster is to put it in local context. We figured it out (after the jump) with the help of some cool and ea ... More >>

Amy Klobuchar wants BP criminal probe after oil spill disaster

Photo: uscgd8Deepwater Horizon burns and an environmental disaster looms​BP, the oil company staring down the maw of a vast environmental disaster after its Deep Horizon drilling rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, may have offered the federal government a bargeload of hogwash when it said it k ... More >>

Jim Oberstar sets House hearings on BP's Deepwater Horizon debacle

U.S. Air ForceA U.S. Air Force C130 drops oil-dispersing chemicals on the Gulf of Mexico​BP executives and others are going to get an earful from members of Congress tomorrow, when the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure opens hearings into the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig ... More >>

Tornado strikes stretch of S. Minneapolis, tedious cleanup begins

The storm came through in just minutes with no warning, lifting large trees and their roots from the ground and tipping them into yards, houses and streets.

Saturday tornado caused $2 million in damage

The tornado left a nine-mile path through Long Lake, Plymouth, and Orono.

Film Highlight: Trouble the Water

Katrina refugee: A Q&A with author Michael Tisserand

Who's to Blame?

In the wake of the I-35W bridge collapse, it's time to take a hard look at the politicians and policies that may have contributed to the disaster

Falling Down

The I-35W Bridge Collapse Exposes Dangerous Deficiencies in the Nation's Transportation Infrastructure.

Murky Waters

Additional video could provide answers

A view from the water in the aftermath

Gardner Hardware Anvil Drop cancelled

Katrina documentaries talk, argue, and fall silent before disaster

Can't Go Home

Juvenile's New Orleans, the ghost town America made

Katrina: Bush boosts reconstruction boodlers, GOP squeezes bankrupts

Baby let me hold your hand: Katrina benefit shows archive

Norm's conquest

Katrina Update: Water rises in NOLA as pumps fail

Twister

Twister wisely jumps the gun on the summer blockbuster season.