On the morning of May 22nd, 2011, a storm was brewing. Along the Rocky Mountains, there were thunderstorms and rainstorms all over the country, including 56 reports of tornadoes. The strongest (Joplin, an EF5 and one of the deadliest tornadoes to hit the US) was in Missouri, and 5 in Minnesota. For this blog, I will be focusing on the tornado that hit North Minneapolis and neighboring suburbs (Golden Valley and Theodore Wirth Parkway).
While some news sources reported it as an EF2, it was officially recorded as an EF1 according to the National Weather Service. This is because a few roofs were partially removed by the winds themselves, but most of the damage was due to huge trees falling onto houses and vehicles.
Golden Valley (Image from NWS.) North Minneapolis (Image from NWS.)
The Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF) replaced the previous Fujita Scale in 2007 to provide more tornado readings. This scale uses damage after a storm to estimate the speed of a tornado's winds. The enhanced scale takes into account building type and structure, kinds of trees, and other specificities to differentiate different tornadoes. So for the May 11th tornado that hit North Minneapolis, it was estimated that the wind speeds got up to 100 - 110 mph.
(Image from NWS)
The tornado touched down at 2:15pm and followed a path from St. Louis Park to Blaine (as shown by the red line in the image below).
(Image from NWS.)
2600 public trees were lost, and many more from people’s yards. Many trees were replanted, but the foliage has yet to regrow to how it was before.
(Image from Google Maps)
This storm was an example of how environmental racism affects minority areas and specifically, Black neighborhoods. Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism that focuses on how environmental hazards and pollution disproportionately affect Black and brown folks. This can be because of a lack of funding and resources in their neighborhoods, or simply because of the locations where they live.
North Minneapolis has historically been disinvested in, and the 2011 tornado was not an exception to that. Following the disaster, there was a lack of support (the destruction caused by Joplin in Missouri drew a lot of attention and less was on the damage to Minneapolis) and funding that came from the government to help North residents relocate and rebuild. Because of this, residents had to rely on each other and take care of one another. The Northside Community Response Team was created by many organizations, including Sanctuary Covenant. This team divided repair duties, took inventory of damages, collected and distributed resources, and did what was needed to help support the community.
I was 8 when this tornado happened, and I lived by Bde Maka Ska; however, that same summer, my family moved a few blocks away from where this tornado touched down, to the Bryn Mawr area (outlined in red). In the Twin Cities, people often don’t take tornado warnings very seriously and continue about their days. The storm preceding it looked like many others, with threats of hail, high winds, heavy rains, and loud thunder. But this storm was not that. Though it was not high strength, the tornado caused about $166 million in damage and 2 deaths. This disaster serves as a reminder to take warnings seriously, find shelter in basements, and stay away from windows.
(Image from Google Maps) (Image from MPR)
Sources:
“Environmental Racism: What It Is and How You Can Fight It.” 2021. The Climate Reality Project. April 6, 2021. http://climaterealityproject.org/blog/environmental-racism-what-it-and-how-you-can-fight-it#:~:text=Moral%20Obligation%20To%20Act,Tragically%2C%20the%20list%20goes%20on.&text=Climate%20change%20%E2%80%A2%20Climate%20change,like%20coal%2C%20oil%20and%20gas.
Hazzard, Andrew, and Andrew Hazzard. 2021. “A Decade on, Painful Scars and Hard-earned Resilience Mark a Tornado’S Path Through North Minneapolis.” Sahan Journal. May 17, 2021. https://sahanjournal.com/climate-environment/northside-tornado-recovery/.
NOAA’s National Weather Service. n.d. “Remembering the North Minneapolis Tornado of May 22, 2011.” https://www.weather.gov/mpx/22May2011.
Yuen, Laura. 2011. “Tornado a Harsh Blow for a Hard-hit Neighborhood.” MPR News, May 24, 2011. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/05/23/north-minneapolis-future.
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