Clean up will take months. That’s the latest word from City and County officials. Xcel Energy continues to work on getting electricity up and running but there’s no guarantee of when at this point as wires are wrapped in trees. Northfield proper did get their’s running late yesterday afternoon (Saturday). Upper Oak Hills neighborhood of Bridgewater Township was hit hard. The sound of chainsaws started up around 7 o’clock Saturday
morning and continued till dusk. Some areas have no running water. Stacy Toll’s driveway was grand central station for food and gathering in the neighborhood. Rachel Meissler said that so many reached out to her and her sister that they were able to organize food and get volunteers. Local businesses are chipping in with food, water, batteries and chainsaw oil, among many other things. B&B brought out port-o-potties to some of those areas. The YMCA has opened up their space so people without water can take showers. KYMN talked with Pat and Tammy Winter, who lost their barn, Red Barn Farm, a popular pizza place and wedding venue. We’ll share their story tomorrow.
Northfield police chief Monte Nelson is also warning folks to be watchful of the Cannon River. It is roaring and rose to nearly 895 ft, 4 inches from Sept. 20th. It has leveled off for now. Chief Nelson added that you should not be clearing trees that are touching wires, get professional help. Be very wary of clearing trees with hanging limbs. He said, we had no injuries during the storm, let’s try not to have any in it’s aftermath.
KYMN remains without power at our tower site. We are in with a long list of others without power. Xcel crews are out and more are coming but there are many in much dire situation than we are. We continue to stream online at kymn.net and also TuneIn radio app. Please use those. Our internal phone system is not working. We have a temporary setup and you can leave messages if someone’s not here to answer.
Northfield Shares is organizing volunteers. Go to northfieldshares.org and the Northfield Rotary has too.
