One death has been linked to the heavy storms that swept across a large swath of Minnesota.

Police say a Maplewood boy drowned in Battle Creek Regional Park in Maplewood. The 13-year-old was with three friends who went to play in the swollen stream, but they lost sight of him and heard him yell shortly after 8pm.

The police chief says the rushing water swept him over a small concrete dam.

Around 18,000 Xcel energy customers lost power in the Twin Cities area, as did about 18,000 others elsewhere in Minnesota.