By ALEXA ST. JOHN

Extreme weather is dangerous weather, and that’s particularly true for the heavy rainfall events that experts say are becoming more frequent with climate change. The powerful storms can pose threats ranging from falling limbs to downed power lines to drowning.

Experts say disaster preparation and good planning can help protect lives and property.

What should you do if you face record rainfall?

Long before extreme weather happens, it’s important to consider whether your home meets building codes, and to know what your insurance covers, experts say. This is the time to address any shortcomings.

Once storms draw near, stay informed by signing up for real-time city, county and federal weather alerts, and listen to the news and whatever your local officials are saying. You can take simple steps to help protect your property, such as ensuring that gutters, storm drains and stormwater systems are clear and ready to do their part in carrying off heavy rain.

If using sandbags to protect property, make sure they’re properly made and stacked to keep water out.

Should you try to evacuate or stay put?

If there are local orders to evacuate, you need to heed them. Gather important documents, get enough gas to drive out and prepare to be away for an extended period of time, said Jeannette Sutton, associate professor at the University at Albany. People need to err on the side of caution, she said.

As major storms move in, there often comes a point when leaving is more hazardous than staying put. One major danger involves flooded roadways. Drivers who attempt to push through them can be swept away by water that is deeper than it appeared and stronger than thought.

How can you prepare your home and belongings?

Moving keepsakes, furniture and valuables to upper levels and making sure sump pump batteries are fully charged are shorter-term ways to prepare, along with ensuring there’s enough food, water and medical supplies.

Cars can be protected by getting them into a parking structure with upper levels.

Experts also say use common sense in planning: Don’t keep your backup generators in a basement where they can be ruined by flooding, for instance.

What can you do once a disaster has started?

If you aren’t able to prepare for floods in time, you should move to the highest level of your home, experts say, or seek out a safe shelter.

If high winds and tornadoes are a threat, however, it could be dangerous to be too high up. That’s why checking forecasts is critical.

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

Minnesota United at New York City

When: Yankee Stadium
Where: 2 p.m. Sunday
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, Apple TV+
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Weather: 47 degrees, rain, 4 mph south wind
Betting line: NYCFC plus-120; draw plus-250; MNUFC plus-210

Form: MNUFC (3-1-2, 11 points) is unbeaten in five matches, but two of those draws included blown leads. NYCFC (2-2-2, 8 points) is coming off a barn-burning, 4-3 loss to Atlanta United.

Recent matchups: The Loons haven’t played the Pigeons since 2023, a 2-0 Minnesota win at Citi Field. Former players Jan Gregus and Mender Garcia scored for United.

News: The Loons midfield suffered another injury setback with backup Owen Gene expected to be out 2-4 weeks with an ankle injury. It comes after starter Hassani Dotson (knee) was ruled out for months after an injury suffered a week prior. MNUFC still has starters in Robin Lod, Joaquin Pereyra and Wil Trapp, but the Loons’ depth grows shallow in the short term. Gene had been called on to step up with Dotson out.

Quote: New midfielder Hoyeon Jung might be considered as another candidate to step into a contributing role, but head coach Eric Ramsay said the South Korean still needs to adjust to a new league and country:

“The nature of his character. He, again, is relatively timid and perhaps a bit of a stereotype that carries: he is really respectful, really humble, really honest,” Ramsay said. “He has yet to impose himself on the group, but he’s a good player and you can see why he is someone in that (K League 1) that has been highly rated. … Adding to that perfect storm is that we are a team that relies on real physicality, energy, discipline and ability to carry out really specific instructions, so some of the early difficulties have been based on adaptation.”

Projected starting XI: In a 5-3-2 formation, FW Tani Oluwaseyi, FW Kelvin Yeboah; MF Joaquin Pereyra, MF Robin Lod, MF Wil Trapp; LWB Joseph Rosales, CB Carlos Harvey, CB Michael Boxall, CB Jefferson Diaz, RWB Bongi Hlongwane; GK Dayne St. Clair.

Prediction: MNUFC has tightened up its defense after a two-game lull and will likely be plugging in veterans (Boxall and Harvey) into its back line. Loons get it done again, 1-0.

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What does Woodbury have to offer?

Trails, parks and scenic views for lovers of the outdoors, restaurants for the foodies and “phone eats first” Instagram crew, energizing attractions for adrenaline junkies, local businesses and, best of all, community, according to Eric Satre, marketing manager for the city’s new visitors bureau, Destination Woodbury.

“We know Woodbury is a welcoming city and we know it’s a great place to visit,” Satre said.

Destination Woodbury, a city-funded destination marketing organization, launches Saturday at the Woodbury Community Expo. There, Satre will unveil the brand’s new website, parks and trails map and host live demonstrations of what the site has to offer.

“We’ll provide itineraries, things to do and places to stay,” Satre said. “It’s really just a one-stop shop for visitor resources.”

The idea for the tourist bureau has been in the works for several years, Satre said. As the city continues to grow and develop, with locations like Central Park re-opening in the fall, and businesses like Top Golf and Main Event opening later in the year, “now seemed to be the right time,” he said.

Satre, whose position is funded by Woodbury’s hotel lodging tax, has been in the tourism business for 18 years, having previously worked with Visit St. Paul and Visit Inver Grove Heights.

Explore Minnesota lists dozens of cities and regions that have their own visitor information websites, similar to Destination Woodbury.

But while the main purpose of Destination Woodbury is to attract visitors outside of the 50-mile radius, it’s also meant for Woodbury residents looking to discover new attractions and book venues for special events like weddings and family reunions, Satre said.

The organization also promotes local businesses by providing them a platform to share their stories, he said.

“The community in Woodbury is growing and developing and I feel like Destination Woodbury can grow alongside of it,” Satre said.

Woodbury is a prime spot for visitors, Satre said, as Interstate 94 connects it to the city of St. Paul and travelers can now use Metro Transit’s new Bus Rapid Transit route, the Gold Line, to explore.

“We have a great location here for visitors whether they’re staying in Woodbury or maybe they want to make it their home base and go to a concert in downtown St. Paul, a game or the St. Croix River Valley,” Satre said.

As of now, Destination Woodbury is only a website, but will open as a visitor’s desk in Woodbury Central Park this summer, according to Satre.

“Guests can come and ask questions about what there is to do, places to go, local restaurants and so forth,” Satre said.

Satre said the organization will help streamline the messaging of what Woodbury has to offer.

“My vision is to to launch the brand and the website in year one, then grow it from there,” Satre said. “I mean, this is really just the beginning, which is very exciting.”

For more information visit destinationwoodbury.com. To submit a business, attraction, or event for consideration, contact info@destinationwoodbury.com.

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Woodbury Community Expo

What: More than 150 business and organizations offer promotional booths, hosted by the Woodbury Chamber of Commerce. Live entertainment, a kids area, vehicle fair and food will also be available.

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5

Where: Woodbury High School, 2665 Woodlane Drive

Cost: Free admission.

Info: Visit members.woodburychamber.org/events for more details.

Kelvin Yeboah’s first thought included skepticism.

The Italian/Ghanian striker joined Minnesota United last summer and was plugged in as the lone man atop the Loons’ attack. His first foray into MLS started off swimmingly with seven goals in 709 regular-season minutes.

But this season, head coach Eric Ramsay and the coaching staff wanted MNUFC to switch to a two-striker formation: with Yeboah playing alongside Canadian forward Tani Oluwaseyi.

“In the beginning, for sure, you are thinking, ‘Why change?’ ” Yeboah told the Pioneer Press this week. “And it’s a bit difficult to adapt to new changes, but eventually it all worked. We trusted (Ramsay) from Day 1, and we keep trusting him until now. So I think he’s doing really a good job.”

The switch has worked out for all parties. While opposing center backs have two strikers to worry about and account for on the field, Yeboah and Oluwaseyi have scored four goals each to tie for the fourth-most tallies in MLS through six games. Their production has boosted MNUFC (3-1-2) into fourth place in the Western Conference going into Sunday’s game against New York City FC (2-2-2) at Yankee Stadium.

“I feel like those two, if they needed convincing of the argument of playing as a pair, there’s enough evidence over six games to suggest that we can do really, really well,” Ramsay said.

Minnesota United forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) head the ball over Real Salt Lake midfielder Emeka Eneli (14) in the first half of a MLS game at Allianz Field in St. Paul on Saturday, March. 29, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Stumbles before big stage

Ramsay and Yeboah are quite alright over MNUFC’s strike partners not getting much praise for their early-season goal scoring successes.

“We’re quite happy with that, by the way; I think that suits us to an extent,” Ramsay said. “But also feel like that’s self inflicted, because if we had won one of the two games that we most definitely should have done against Kansas (City) and (L.A.) Galaxy, we would be, obviously, in a more eye-catching position.”

After losing leads in both those matches, MNUFC beat Real Salt Lake behind two goals from Oluwaseyi. The Loons will now go to New York, followed by Toronto next Saturday.

“Don’t really care,” Yeboah said about the lack of attention. “But yes, I do think we are a surprise for MLS. I think we are still considered a surprise, Minnesota United, in itself. The results speak for themselves, you know. So we are really keeping our head down and just keep working.”

Still a work in progress

Ramsay said the team reviewed the two-striker set-up before Thursday’s training session as it seeks more areas for improvement.

“The biggest message, both in and out of possession, for those (two) is that they stay close enough to one another,” Ramsay said. “And I think in order to get the benefit of one another’s movement and the benefit of each other’s physicality, they need to be close. And I think largely we’ve seen that over the course of most games. There are certain points in certain games where we start to drift a little bit from from one another.”

During small-sided drills and scrimmage situations in training sessions, the Loons’ starters are often broken up into different teams to find a competitive balance between the groups. On Thursday, Yeboah and Oluwaseyi remained together to further deepen their chemistry.

Oluwaseyi had back-to-back scoring chances early against RSL last Saturday, but didn’t convert. In the past, he said he would have dwelled on those missed opportunities, and people in his circle would have been reminding him to let it go.

“I’m just trying to … shout out to Ted Lasso, ‘Just be a goldfish,’ ” Oluwaseyi said about how the Apple TV show instilled the need for soccer players to have a short memory. “Just keep things in perspective and just forget everything that happens in the past and just keep going.”

Split scoring

All four of Oluwaseyi’s goals have come in open play or on counter-attacks, while three of Yeboah’s goals have derived from set plays and one on a penalty kick.

“There is an element on set plays (where) Kelvin, within the set-up, is in a better position to score than Tani,” Ramsay explained. “Tani is more likely to assist in those situations. I’d say there’s something in that.”

Oluwasseyi assisted on Yeboah’s (and the Loons’) first goal of the season, a tap-in off a corner kick in the 1-0 win over Montreal on March 1.

“I would also say in open play, Kelvin’s had some some good chances,” Ramsay said. “He’s yet to, sort of, set the world on fire when it comes to really eye-catching goals in the way that he did last year. But I think almost more pleasing for me and the staff is that he’s probably learned the value of a messy goal on a set play.”

Yeboah is looking to hone in on his natural instinct over where the ball is going to end up in sequences. When Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy failed to grab an attempt two weeks ago, Yeboah was there to poke it into the back of the net.

“You can never know,” Yeboah said. “So it’s always a bit of a gamble. But I’ve been gambling well in that sense.”

Competition?

Putting two ultra-competitive strikers on the field together might have led to them contrasting or combusting. But that hasn’t been the case.

Oluwaseyi said he made a joke about competing against Yeboah in practice, and Yeboah replied: “Don’t compete against me, compete against yourself.”

How Zen of Yeboah.

“As strikers, you have the edge always to compare because of numbers, because of whatsoever,” Yeboah said. “… Results are dictated by so many factors. So if you compete with yourself, you have a better chance to improve.”

Yeboah brought up how both players have different attributes. One example: Yeboah’s four goals have come with his preferred right foot, while Oluwaseyi has scored three with his favored left foot, and one with his head.

Just off the pace

Yeboah and Oluwaseyi’s goal totals are both within the Top 5 in MLS through six matches this season.

Top MLS goal-scorers in 2025:

1. Tai Baribo, Philadelphia, 6
2t. Hugo Cuypers, Chicago, 5
Emmanuel Latte Lath, Atlanta, 5
4t. Yeboah, 4
Oluwaseyi, 4
Christian Benteke, D.C., 4
Diego Rossi, Columbus, 4
Antony, Portland, 4
Evander, Cincinnati, 4
Alonso Martinez, New York City, 4
Martin Ojeda, Orlando City, 4
Marco Pasalic, Orlando City, 4

(Note: Only MNUFC and Orlando City have two players on the list, while Sunday’s opponent is represented with one.)

Little company

The Loons have had only one of the club’s annual leading scorers rank in the MLS Top 10 that season — and it came in the pandemic-shortened season in 2020:

Top MNUFC goal-scorers since 2017, with MLS rank:

2025 — T-4: Tani Oluwaseyi/Kelvin Yeboah, 4 goals
2024 — T-27: Bongi Hlongwane, 11 goals
2023 — T-21: Teemu Pukki, 10 goals
2022 — T-22: Emanuel Reynoso, 10 goals
2021 — T-27: Robin Lod, 9 goals
2020* — T-8: Kevin Molino, 9 goals
2019 — T-27: Darwin Quintero, 10 goals
2018 — T-22: Quintero, 11 goals
2017 — T-11: Christian Ramirez, 14 goals

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