Minnesota mall roof collapses under weight of heavy snow

The roof of a mall in Duluth, Minnesota, collapsed on Tuesday, a day after the northern Minnesota city received over a foot of snow. The snow-related collapse occurred at Miller Hill Mall at around 9 a.m. CDT.

An employee working inside the mall was told to evacuate immediately because the roof was collapsing, according to Northern News Now. Authorities were called to the scene around 9 a.m. CDT and responded near Applebee's inside the mall.

"The Miller Hill Mall has been evacuated, and the public is asked to stay away from the site at this time," Duluth Minnesota Fire Department said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning, adding that no injuries have initially been reported.

Roof collapse at The Miller Hill Mall in Duluth, Minnesota, on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (Kayla Tharaldson via Storyful)

The Essentia Health location at Miller Hill announced it had evacuated and canceled all appointments for staff and patients at the mall. Essentia Health was not directly under the mall's roof collapse, but the location remained closed for the remainder of Tuesday.

About 12.5 inches of snow fell in Duluth between Sunday and Monday, with nearly 7 of those inches falling on Monday -- the heaviest single-day snowfall total for the city since Dec. 15.

More than 23 inches of snow has already been recorded in Duluth this March, which is the most snow the city has observed in March since 2013, when 25.8 inches of snow was recorded throughout the month.

According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, data suggests that an average of 37 inches of snow is on the ground in the region, but deeper snow is possible in some areas, including on top of some buildings, due to prior drifting.

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