Early morning storms cut power for nearly 5,000 in metro

Photo by KM Photography..

​Early morning rainstorms today cut through the metro area and left almost 5,000 Xcel Energy customers without power.

Most of the outages are in the east metro, an Xcel spokesman told the Star Tribune. There are 3,600 customers without power in that area, mostly centered in the Woodbury and South St. Paul areas.

There are 1,200 customers without power in the west metro, including Chanhassen and Eden Prairie.

All electricity should be restored by lunch time.

There will be continuing thunderstorms today in the Twin Cities with possibilities of small hail, gusty winds and heavy rain. There is a possibility of severe storms with large hail and heavy winds.