Cleanup of damaged buildings, downed trees and mangled power lines continued in northern Minnesota on Sunday, in the wake of severe storms that walloped the region early Saturday.

The storms produced winds of more than 100 mph — equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. More strong storms were in the forecast for Sunday.

As of Sunday morning, more than 15,000 homes and businesses remained without power in northern Minnesota from Saturday’s storms. That was down from more than 50,000 in the immediate wake of the severe weather.

Line crews from elsewhere in the state were helping local utilities restore power in Bemidji, Cass Lake, Bagley, Mahnomen and surrounding areas.

“The remaining repairs are extensive, with more broken poles discovered as work continues,” Beltrami Electric Cooperative reported late Saturday night. “This storm has caused some of the worst damage our communities have seen in decades.”

The utility noted that in good conditions — when crews don’t have to cut through downed trees to access it — it takes four line workers about four hours to replace a single utility pole.

“We are still tallying and don’t have a total number of broken poles yet, but there are dozens,” the co-op reported.

Otter Tail Power said it had about 55 line workers making repairs in Bemidji, where thousands of customers remained without power Sunday. The utility said some parts of the city may be without power for several days. It was also contending with another round of storms moving through the region on Sunday morning that had caused new outages to the south, near Fergus Falls.

Wild Rice Electric and Clearwater-Polk Electric Cooperative were among the other utilities hit hard by the storms.

State of emergency

The city of Bemidji and Beltrami County each declared states of emergency in the wake of the storms. It’s a needed step to access additional resources for storm response and recovery efforts.

Saturday’s storm uprooted a tree and an attached headstone on the west end of Greenwood Cemetery, as shown here on Sunday in Bemidji, Minn. (Mathew Holding Eagle III / MPR News)

The city’s proclamation noted that the storms caused “catastrophic loss to property and the environment.”

The National Weather Service’s Grand Forks office sent a crew to survey the damage in Bemidji. As of late Saturday, it had not yet determined whether it was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds — or some combination of both.

As thousands of residents in the region started a second day without power, temperatures were forecast to climb back into the 90s on Sunday.

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe opened cooling shelters on Saturday amid the hot weather and power outages — including at Northern Lights Casino near Walker, and Cedar Lakes Casino in Cass Lake. Water was being distributed to those in need, as tribal police officers and others worked to clear downed trees.

After the winds of Saturday’s storm, a street sign remains where it fell a day later in Bemidji, Minn. (Mathew Holding Eagle III / MPR News)

Leech Lake officials asked people to check on their neighbors — in particular elders and people with health conditions.

Beltrami County reported that its demolition landfill had extended its hours to accept storm debris. County officials urged residents to be careful to protect their health and safety — and their wallets — during the cleanup.

“Please use caution as you clear debris and help your neighbors,” Beltrami County reported in a news release late Saturday. “Be wary of potential scammers doing nefarious business following a disaster. Review documents before you enter contracts and if you feel rushed, maybe wait and go with a reputable business.”

Train derailed

Southeast of Bemidji, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday’s storms appear to have led to a train derailment in Cass Lake.

The sheriff’s office said its initial investigation indicated the strong winds pushed rail cars parked in the BNSF yard in Cass Lake to the east, causing five cars to derail.

“The cars are reported empty and there is no threat to public safety or the environment from this incident. BNSF is working with contractors to correct the derailment,” the sheriff’s office reported Saturday.

North Dakota storms

Intense storms also swept across much of North Dakota late Friday and early Saturday, spawning several tornadoes — including one that killed three people near the community of Enderlin, about 35 miles southwest of Fargo.

The National Weather Service said that tornado was rated an EF-3 or stronger — meaning winds potentially greater than 165 mph.

“Our hearts and sympathies go out to the family and friends of the three North Dakotans who tragically lost their lives in Friday’s tornado, and to the close-knit community in Enderlin, which suffered widespread damage,” North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong said in a statement Saturday. “We thank our dedicated first responders and community leaders, including our many volunteer first responders, for their swift action to keep residents safe and help them recover.”

The state said the storms caused two train derailments. The Enderlin tornado derailed a dozen empty tanker cars, while another derailment of grain cars was reported in Traill County, between Fargo and Grand Forks.

Thousands of people remained without power across eastern North Dakota on Sunday.

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More storms Sunday

A severe thunderstorm watch issued Sunday morning for northwest Minnesota — including Bemidji, as well as Moorhead, Crookston and Roseau. It was slated to run through 2 p.m. and also covered much of eastern North Dakota.

The National Weather Service said storms moving through the region could once again produce damaging winds along with large hail and possibly a few tornadoes.

Much of the rest of Minnesota was also at risk for strong storms Sunday into early Monday.

By MATTHEW BROWN

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — One of Layton Tallwhiteman’s earliest memories was watching the news at his uncle’s house in Montana in 2003 and seeing the U.S. bomb Baghdad to launch the war in Iraq.

Recollections of that war — waged in part to find weapons of mass destruction that did not exist – flooded back for Tallwhiteman after President Donald Trump ordered weekend bombing strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities amid its escalating conflict with Israel.

The administration has indicated it wants to avoid getting pulled into all-out war. Tallwhiteman, who grew up on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation southeast of Billings, is skeptical.

“Their idea is to eliminate the threat. Like Bush said in Iraq, ‘We’re going to eliminate the threat. We’re going to find weapons of mass destruction and eliminate them.’ Did that work the way he planned? No, obviously it didn’t,” said Tallwhiteman. The 30-year-old driver for a food distribution company said he usually votes Libertarian, but backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump last year.

Across the U.S. on Sunday, Americans expressed a mixture of support, apprehension and confoundment at the bombings, which officials said caused severe damage to Iran’s nuclear sites. Administration officials said the strikes left room for Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear program. Yet if the conflict spirals, it could test Trump’s foreign diplomacy skills and also his support at home.

‘It had to be done’

B-2 bombers that participated in the weekend strikes returned home to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on Sunday. Nearby, retired Air Force veteran Ken Slabaugh said he was “100% supportive” of Trump’s decision and the military personnel who carried it out.

Slabaugh said Iran has showed resistance to negotiations over its nuclear program for decades, a problem that he said Trump inherited. Iran can’t be trusted, Slabaugh said, nor allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

“It simply had to be done,” he said of the strikes, adding that he’s now concerned for members of the military around the world.

“I’m proud of the guys and the gals that are doing the work out there. Nobody in the world does this like we do, and we have the freedom and liberty we enjoy because of that,” Slabaugh said.

In Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Andrew Williams, 18, said he was surprised by the timing of the attack given that many Republicans had expressed opposition to U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war. Still, he thought it was necessary if Iran was building nuclear weapons.

“If we are able to get rid of that, that is something we should do,” Williams said.

Robert Wallette of Billings said Trump had “good reason” to conduct the bombing as a demonstration of American support for Israel.

“Iran’s evil, evil people. They hate Americans,” he said.

Concern about conflict spinning out of control

Wallette, 69, a retired contract specialist at the federal Indian Health Service, said he hated Trump when the Republican was first elected because of his arrogant style.

His perspective started to shift after Trump moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In 2024, Wallette voted for Trump based on his promises to curb illegal immigration, putting him among the 60% of voters backing Trump last year in Yellowstone County, which includes Billings.

Notwithstanding his support, Wallette was unsure if Trump can avoid the U.S. getting drawn into a deeper conflict with Iran.

“Other countries are getting involved and this may be out of his control,” he said.

Kent Berame, 32, of Davie, Florida, said it was a little outrageous for Trump to go rogue and approve the attack without explicit support from Congress. He said he doesn’t agree with the United States supporting Israel’s recent attacks on Iran.

“There’s concern that we’re putting troops in danger,” said Berame, a Democrat who owns his own marketing company. “And obviously there’s a retaliatory response toward all of our bases over there.”

Berame said it’s frustrating that the U.S. might be increasing hostilities with Iran just a few years after finally ending the war in Afghanistan.

“I don’t want to see any U.S. soldiers in harm’s way or in danger,” he said.

Back in Billings, Trump voter Patty Ellman said she worries about the U.S. getting sucked into another extended conflict.

“We have enough going on in America to get into other countries’ wars. Let’s just take care of us right now,” she said.

Ellman, a 61-year-old who stepped in as caregiver for her ex-husband after he suffered a stroke, said the U.S. should retaliate if attacked, but otherwise stay out of Iran’s conflict with other countries.

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“That’s their business,” she said. “We need to worry about Americans and how we’re going to survive and are we going to have Social Security.”

____

With contributions from David Fischer in Davie, Florida; Nicholas Ingram in Knob Noster, Missouri; and Mingson Lau in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Almost four years ago to the date, Danny Coulombe took the mound for his first major league career start, throwing nearly two innings before making way for Griffin Jax, then a starter. It was his first and only career start until Sunday when Coulombe was tapped to start again, this time as an opener for David Festa, who had lasted less than four innings in two of his three previous starts.

It’s something that manager Rocco Baldelli said he had been thinking about for a while and discussing internally — and he said it was “probably something that we’re going to see more of” — but it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that the Twins informed both Coulombe and Festa of the decision.

“We’re reacting a little bit because we have to,” Baldelli said before the game. “I think there are certain times of the year where you’ve got to make a call, one way or the other. And it’s been a little while now we’ve been struggling to stop the other teams from scoring and we’re going to introduce something new and try to switch things up. Not just for the sake of switching things up, because I think there are actual benefits, too.”

With two lefties among the Milwaukee Brewers’ first three hitters on Sunday, Baldelli got his best southpaw out to face him. It didn’t go quite to plan as Coulombe got the first two outs of the inning but then gave up a double to left-hander Christian Yelich before William Contreras hit an RBI knock give the Brewers an early lead.

Festa then entered in the second inning with the Twins up 2-1 and immediately surrendered a home run to Rhys Hoskins, tying the game. He would get knocked around in the Twins’ 9-8 loss to the Brewers, giving up eight runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched.

“It’s a little different, for sure. It’s hard to say it’s not,” Festa said. “We have a good inning offensively. I tried to treat that long half inning as if (we) were the away team and it’s the top of the first. I mean, it’s a little different, but it had no impact on any of the results.”

Willi Castro scratched

Willi Castro’s right wrist has been bothering him since Thursday, when the Twins played their last game in Cincinnati, but he had been feeling it more and more frequently and on Sunday morning, it forced him out of the lineup.

The Twins scratched the utilityman from the lineup, giving him the day off. Castro said he had an X-ray taken and was told that it was nothing serious. It’s something he said he feels on certain “funky swings.”

“I’ve had that pain before, but (Sunday) it was the day it got worse,” Castro said. “I’ve played with that pain before, last year, this year. … Probably two to three days I’ll be fine to go back and play.”

Briefly

Bailey Ober will take the mound on Monday when the Twins play host to the Seattle Mariners. Ober faced the Mariners in late May, giving up two earned runs in four innings pitched. He will be opposed by right-hander Bryan Woo, who has a 3.12 earned-run average this season and held the Twins to three runs in 6 2/3 innings when he pitched against them last month.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge on Sunday ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, while he awaits a federal trial on human smuggling charges. But he is not expected to be allowed to go free.

At his June 13 detention hearing, prosecutors said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would take Abrego Garcia into custody if he were released on the criminal charges, and he could be deported before he has a chance to stand trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to discuss the conditions of Abrego Garcia’s release. The U.S. government has already filed a motion to appeal the judge’s release order.

Holmes acknowledged in her ruling Sunday that determining whether Abrego Garcia should be released is “little more than an academic exercise” because ICE will likely detain him. But the judge wrote that everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and “a full and fair determination of whether he must remain in federal custody pending trial.”

Holmes wrote that the government failed to prove that Abrego was a flight risk, that he posed a danger to the community or that he would interfere with proceedings if released.

“Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego’s release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable danger to other persons or to the community,” the judge wrote.

Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify the deportation mistake after the fact.

The acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Rob McGuire, argued on June 13 that the likely attempt by ICE to try to deport him was one reason to keep him in jail.

But Holmes said then that she had no intention of “getting in the middle of any ICE hold.”

“If I elect to release Mr. Abrego, I will impose conditions of release, and the U.S. Marshal will release him.” If he is released into ICE custody, that is “above my pay grade,” she said.

The judge suggested that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security could work out between themselves whether the government’s priority is to try him on the criminal charges or deport him. No date has been set for the trial.

Will Allensworth, an assistant federal public defender representing Abrego Garcia at the detention hearing, told Holmes that “it’s not necessarily accurate that he would be immediately deported.”

A 2019 immigration judge’s order prevents Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland, from being deported to his home country of El Salvador, Allensworth said in court. That’s because he faces a credible threat from gangs there, according to court papers.

The government could deport him to a third country, but immigration officials would first be required to show that third country was willing to keep him and not simply deport him back to El Salvador, Allensworth said.

The smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Although officers suspected possible smuggling, he was allowed to go on his way with only a warning. He has pleaded not guilty.

At the detention hearing, McGuire said cooperating witnesses have accused Abrego Garcia of trafficking drugs and firearms and of abusing the women he transported, among other claims. Although he is not charged with such crimes, McGuire said they showed Abrego Garcia to be a dangerous person who should remain in jail pretrial.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have characterized the smuggling case as a desperate attempt to justify the mistaken deportation. The investigation was launched weeks after the U.S. government deported Abrego Garcia and the Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate his return amid mounting public pressure.

The U.S. is now expected to try to deport him again with much of the world watching and the outcome hard to predict.

Most people in ICE custody who are facing criminal charges are not kept in the U.S. for trial but deported, Ohio State University law professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández said.

The U.S. will likely try to deport Abrego Garcia quickly without going before an immigration judge, the professor said. The government would not need a conviction to deport him because Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. illegally.

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“The legal standard is laxer,” García Hernández said. “The government’s argument is on stronger legal footing.”

However an immigration judge rules, the decision can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, García Hernández said. And the board’s ruling can then be contested in a federal appeals court.