I heard of more storms and a rescue on the radio this morning, but I can't find anything at Ely Echo or elsewhere. Apparently bad storms throughout the state (I saw some evidence this on my drive to work), including a rescue in the BWCA by the Forest Service. Anybody know more?

Ely Echo Twitter was updated:

Forest Service Beaver floatplane takes off from Ely toward BWCA. Reports of injured campers, possible fatalities. Unknown at this point.

USFS floatplane flying out one injured camper. Two more injured campers being evacuated by boat.

I just read on facebook that there have been 2 deaths reported.. but I'm not sure how accurate that is

quote Canoearoo: "I just read on facebook that there have been 2 deaths reported.. but I'm not sure how accurate that is"

This is very sad.

This is all I've seen so far.

Injuries in the BWCA

The Star Tribune is reporting two dead near Basswood:
Article

And this article too.



Duluth News

Brutal weather this summer. How incredibly sad.

I'm reading this as injuries but not deaths.

Recent Star Tribune article

that link is from the July 2014 storm

KSTP Report
Very sad especially if it was young people.

Yup, just saw it on 45 (5-2) tv news.. 2 confirmed dead from Quetico basswood lake.. possibly boy scouts :( :(

quote cowdoc: "that link is from the July 2014 storm"

My apologies - misread that.

Especially alarming that its from Northern Tier.

"Lake County Emergency Management Director B.J Kohlstedt confirmed a 39-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy were killed by falling trees on the shore of Basswood Lake.

Two others in their party were injured. They were flown out of the wilderness area Thursday morning for medical attention."

"Authorities confirm two people died and two others were badly injured while camping on the shores of the BWCA's Basswood Lake near the Canadian border. Lake County Emergency officials say the victims, a 39-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy, were among nine campers from the Northern Tier High Adventure Program, a part of the Boy Scouts of America. The two injured campers were flown out by a U.S. Forest Service floatplane."

Tragic!

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4078433-two-fatalities-reported-after-severe-storms-sweep-across-boundary-waters

We were on the shore of the S. Kawishiwi on Sunday night and it was a doozy, but short. When we saw the chance of thunderstorms high again for Wednesday night, we bailed a day early since we didn't want to pack out with wet gear, our site on Clear Lake had lots of possible trees to fall, and other sites seemed to be filling up.

quote Pinetree: "http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4078433-two-fatalities-reported-after-severe-storms-sweep-across-boundary-waters"

Link

Thanks I couldn't get the link to work.

Sounds like it was wide spread

update

quote joshmontague: "We were on the shore of the S. Kawishiwi on Sunday night and it was a doozy, but short. When we saw the chance of thunderstorms high again for Wednesday night, we bailed a day early since we didn't want to pack out with wet gear, our site on Clear Lake had lots of possible trees to fall, and other sites seemed to be filling up."

How are you getting your weather updates? Radio? Just curious.

Details on closed roads and portages from Ely Echo http://www.elyecho.com/articles/2016/07/21/map-storm-damage-closed-roads-and-portages

It looks like the damage is widespread and severe. Thoughts go out to those who were injured and had loved ones killed. Also thanks to those who are responding to help. I hope they stay safe cutting trees and restoring power. There must be many people stranded because of down trees. This storm is really going to affect peoples trips and the outfitters.
It looks like there was some bad damage in TGO's neighborhood on Burntside. I hope he and everyone else is OK.

It does look very widespread and severe. Agree with everything Zulu posted. There will be likely more stories of injuries and certainly people late getting out. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones and those injured.
Meteorologically,, this appears to have potentially been a derecho. (Long lived, severe straight line wind event, similar (but smaller) then the 4th July 99' event.

Yup, the Van Vac Road got it's butt kicked, power poles and lines down, large trees all across the road. I had to snake in between trees and power lines, power going to be out for some time in some homes there, less time in others.
Will send a few photos, but will have to wait until I get into town in the morning and have a computer with electric service.

ouch. we will start tying down the canoes at night. if the van hadn't been parked in that spot those solos would have been across the parking lot in trees somewhere.

Glad your OK Jim.

Just got out of crab lake. Very scary last night. Widow maker fell on my dads hammock tent 5 minutes after exiting the tent. Entire site on crab was destroyed with down trees everywhere. The sound was horrifying last night. Crab lake portage was a mess. Took us 4 hrs to get out On the portage to burntside. It will be some time bored that portage is open.

My husband and two young sons are on lake four. Does anyone have any information or updates for that area?

Just read a news story from last night. My prayers go out to the family of the young boy and his mom. As my boys get farther into scouting, the den, pack and troop become a family of sorts. I can't imagine what the rest of the group is going through.

Storm reports from 7/20

These of course all not all encompassing -- especially from more remote areas.

I think one thing that made this wind event worse was high soil moisture from previous rain events that weakened the root ball structures of some trees and allowed them to fall easier.

It appears the storm went through the BW/Q area between 1am and 3am.

Prayers sent.

We just came out of Gabbro, it was awful overnight. We were on the second to last campsite heading to Bald Eagle. We had 8 large trees come down all around our tents. We all went outside after hearing the first one snap and we stayed by some rocks by the water. We weren't sure what was best as the lighting was also crazy. Some trees uprooted but the majority snapped off.

The portage out was blocked by several more trees making the exit difficult. As we were finishing up the portage, some wonderful young men and women from Outward Bound I believe started clearing the portage. It should be fine now. Driving past the South Kawishiwi parking lot we noticed a white pickup took a direct hit hit from a large tree.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who didn't make it out unscathed as we did!

A couple of pics that don't really show the magnitude of the destruction.

Just heard from my family on lake four and they are okay! Thank God! Doesn't seem to be as much damage there compared to what I hear and see from other areas.

quote Mrsg327: "Just heard from my family on lake four and they are okay! Thank God! Doesn't seem to be as much damage there compared to what I hear and see from other areas."

What a relief! Happy to hear they are safe and sound. I hope the same for everyone else who was out there. I was in the '99 storm so can relate to what an incredibly scary experience that must have been this morning.

quote Mrsg327: "Just heard from my family on lake four and they are okay! Thank God! Doesn't seem to be as much damage there compared to what I hear and see from other areas."

Great news. I'm happy that you heard from them.

quote Mrsg327: "Just heard from my family on lake four and they are okay! Thank God! Doesn't seem to be as much damage there compared to what I hear and see from other areas."

great news!!!

quote Mrsg327: "Just heard from my family on lake four and they are okay! Thank God! Doesn't seem to be as much damage there compared to what I hear and see from other areas."

Glad to hear everyone is fine.

Prayers for the 2 lost last night and to the others that where there who lost their fellow scout and leader.

It's going to be a long road ahead for them as they come to terms with this tragedy.

Current forecasts advise the public to be aware that a second round of severe storms is possible late on Saturday.

Yep, pretty wide spread. I was up most of the night responding to pages of medicals and many trees in power lines. I was trying to pull over to one with lights flashing big time on the engine and a guy still passed me on the shoulder oncoming lane which I was in to block for power line. I got flipped off. Haha! He was lucky as I think the line was dead.

Gosh, thoughts and prayers to the families. We've had a really bad year for storms here, but not nearly as devastating as the ones up in MN this summer.

quote nctry: "Yep, pretty wide spread. I was up most of the night responding to pages of medicals and many trees in power lines. I was trying to pull over to one with lights flashing big time on the engine and a guy still passed me on the shoulder oncoming lane which I was in to block for power line. I got flipped off. Haha! He was lucky as I think the line was dead."

After 33 years in law enforcement I have no end of stories about people not heeding emergency lighting, barricades ect.

Just this week we had a women drive around two sets of barricades and into a 50 foot deep washout and get killed.

I had people threaten me with bodily harm because I wouldn't let them drive through dangerous areas.

quote riverrunner: "

quote nctry: "Yep, pretty wide spread. I was up most of the night responding to pages of medicals and many trees in power lines. I was trying to pull over to one with lights flashing big time on the engine and a guy still passed me on the shoulder oncoming lane which I was in to block for power line. I got flipped off. Haha! He was lucky as I think the line was dead."

After 33 years in law enforcement I have no end of stories about people not heeding emergency lighting, barricades ect.


Just this week we had a women drive around two sets of barricades and into a 50 foot deep washout and get killed.


I had people threaten me with bodily harm because I wouldn't let them drive through dangerous areas.


"

+1. Stupidity never ends.

Nothing used to scare the Shi* out of me more than directing traffic and hear squealing tires behind me. God I hated that.

quote Corsair: "

quote riverrunner: "

quote nctry: "Yep, pretty wide spread. I was up most of the night responding to pages of medicals and many trees in power lines. I was trying to pull over to one with lights flashing big time on the engine and a guy still passed me on the shoulder oncoming lane which I was in to block for power line. I got flipped off. Haha! He was lucky as I think the line was dead."

After 33 years in law enforcement I have no end of stories about people not heeding emergency lighting, barricades ect.



Just this week we had a women drive around two sets of barricades and into a 50 foot deep washout and get killed.



I had people threaten me with bodily harm because I wouldn't let them drive through dangerous areas.



"

+1. Stupidity never ends.


Nothing used to scare the Shi* out of me more than directing traffic and hear squealing tires behind me. God I hated that.
"

I have run out of the way of vehicles way to often when directing traffic.

prayers go out to the 2 lost my wife and i were on the north end of pipestone when it came through and can say it is a mess up there we lost a bunch of trees around camp luckily the wind movd our canoe for us before a tree wood have crushed it. our hammocks held up somehow got a little wet but very thankful that the trees we were in stay upright, wild ride forsure. Pipestone portage was fairly bad but nothing comparedto the newton portage. unless they get some saws and serious equipment in there or a lot of hands people in boat may be stuck in for a while. needless to say my wifes first trip in was a doozy.

Glad your safe IAfire. I never considered what it would be like being in a hammock during a bad storm. Thanks for the report and photos.

quote Zulu: "Glad your safe IAfire. I never considered what it would be like being in a hammock during a bad storm. Thanks for the report and photos."

+1

quote thefourofus: "We just came out of Gabbro, it was awful overnight. We were on the second to last campsite heading to Bald Eagle. We had 8 large trees come down all around our tents. We all went outside after hearing the first one snap and we stayed by some rocks by the water. We weren't sure what was best as the lighting was also crazy. Some trees uprooted but the majority snapped off.


The portage out was blocked by several more trees making the exit difficult. As we were finishing up the portage, some wonderful young men and women from Outward Bound I believe started clearing the portage. It should be fine now. Driving past the South Kawishiwi parking lot we noticed a white pickup took a direct hit hit from a large tree.


My thoughts and prayers go out to those who didn't make it out unscathed as we did!


"

Scary stuff, glad you 're party is safe. That is a lot of trees down at 1 site. Sounds like you did the right thing by getting out of the tent.

All of these storm stories from this summer are really are making me evaluate how our group reacts when strong storms move through at night. We have never pulled ourselves out of our tents, that is will definitely change in the future.

My thoughts go out to the families of the lost and injured. What a tragedy.

We talk about bears a lot, and how to take care of food, but there really isn't lots of information on storms. I suppose it is difficult to say exactly what to do; there are so many variables. But I did come across this article recently Boundary Waters and Quetico Park Safety Tips

Re: storms "During lightning storms, be as low as possible in the dense woods and stay away from isolated trees, rock outcroppings or penninsulas. If the lightning strikes are close, try to insulate yourself from the ground with something containing no metal, such as insulated sleeping pads or sleeping bags with plastic zippers. Stay clear of any metal including your pack, belts, knives, tools, etc. You may also want to get out of your tent if winds are dropping trees."

The news said the Scout troupe who lost 2 people was on their last day before exiting the BWCA. I have to wonder, if they had a weather radio and knew there would be 50-80mph winds, they could have left early. If I heard that, I'd probably leave.

Update this morning from Kawishiwi Ranger Station on closed portages and roads. Storm Damage Information

quote paddy3001: "Update this morning from Kawishiwi Ranger Station on closed portages and roads. Storm Damage Information "

I think that is a pretty important link and hope it is not added to Saturday

a little dent

quote Pinetree: " a little dent "

Sounds like the canoe still paddled OK. Barely a noticeable blemish.

quote Zulu: "

quote Pinetree: " a little dent "

Sounds like the canoe still paddled OK. Barely a noticeable blemish."

That'll buff right out! I saw this on Highway 33 heading South on my way to the cabin. Did a double take.

On a serious note, I'm very saddened to hear about the lives lost. My heart goes out to their family.

quote RainGearRight: "

quote Zulu: "

quote Pinetree: " a little dent "

Sounds like the canoe still paddled OK. Barely a noticeable blemish."

That'll buff right out! I saw this on Highway 33 heading South on my way to the cabin. Did a double take.

On a serious note, I'm very saddened to hear about the lives lost. My heart goes out to their family. "

Canoes can be replaced,lives can't.

quote deadriver: "



Re: storms "During lightning storms, be as low as possible in the dense woods and stay away from isolated trees, rock outcroppings or penninsulas. If the lightning strikes are close, try to insulate yourself from the ground with something containing no metal, such as insulated sleeping pads or sleeping bags with plastic zippers. Stay clear of any metal including your pack, belts, knives, tools, etc. You may also want to get out of your tent if winds are dropping trees."




" The part about trying to insulate yourself from the ground by being on a pad is a myth. There is not enough insulation in a pad or pads to prevent injury or death.

quote OldFingers57:
The part about trying to insulate yourself from the ground by being on a pad is a myth. There is not enough insulation in a pad or pads to prevent injury or death. "

What about NEAR lightening strikes? If you're on bed rock, for example, you might avoid getting shocked through the ground?

quote deadriver: "

quote OldFingers57:
The part about trying to insulate yourself from the ground by being on a pad is a myth. There is not enough insulation in a pad or pads to prevent injury or death. "

What about NEAR lightening strikes? If you're on bed rock, for example, you might avoid getting shocked through the ground?"

That is what I think,it gets you off the wet ground etc.

quote Pinetree: "

quote deadriver: "

quote OldFingers57:
The part about trying to insulate yourself from the ground by being on a pad is a myth. There is not enough insulation in a pad or pads to prevent injury or death. "

What about NEAR lightening strikes? If you're on bed rock, for example, you might avoid getting shocked through the ground?"

That is what I think,it gets you off the wet ground etc."

Right. And either way, it's a judgement call. I wouldn't expect you find much for dry ground, so my priority would be away from isolated/leaning trees.