Guide to water use and information on power outages after storms in Minnesota

A massive storm devastated infrastructure and downed trees in Minnesota Monday night and Tuesday morning, leaving more than 140,000 Twin Cities residents without power during the peak period. How long will it take to restore power? And what do those without power for days need to know about water usage? Here are some frequently asked questions and recommendations from Xcel Energy:

According to Xcel Energy’s outage map, most Minnesota cities are expected to have power restored by 7 a.m. Thursday. However, a post from the utility on social media site X said some customers may have to wait until late Thursday. Many cities already have power restored. Customers can check their area’s outage status by visiting the outage map at outagemap-xcelenergy.com/outagemap/ and clicking “Reports” on the left side of the screen. From there, you can narrow down the number of outages by city or zip code, or click “Outage Details” to see current outage details and estimated restoration time.

On Tuesday afternoon, about 83,000 households in Minnesota and western Wisconsin were without power.

“We are focused on repairs that will restore power to the greatest number of customers first,” Xcel spokesman Theo Keith said in an emailed statement. “We will then work our way down to the neighborhood level before addressing individual customer outages.”

Most water pipes don’t require electricity, and cold water will still flow normally from kitchen sinks, but tankless water heaters require electricity to provide hot water and will only provide cold water during a power outage. Tankless water heaters can still provide hot water as long as they are filled, but it will only be for a limited amount before the water becomes cold.

Toilets typically work via water pressure and gravity, so a power outage won’t affect them, according to an information page on the Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service website. However, some models rely on a pump to create a strong flow of water. In this case, the toilet’s cistern will no longer fill because the pumps have failed. In this case, residents must manually fill the water tank by pouring a bucket of water into it.