Area copes with aftermath of heavy rains, flooding
Published 11:35 am Saturday, June 22, 2024
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Vehicles navigate water on the road on County Road 2 east of Lansing Saturday morning. A couple hours later, the road would be closed due to being completely covered. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin firefighters and city workers formulate a plan to close downtown streets threatened with flooding Saturday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
A vehicle crosses rising water at Fourth Street SE and Oakland Avenue East Saturday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
People at Stuttgart Tan & Ttravel work to shore up the location as waters encroach upon it Saturday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
A ditch running between Sixth Avenue SE and a side street overflows in Austin due to large amounts of rain that fell overnight and the days leading up to it. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Water flows beneath the high water mark sign from the 2004 flood at the railroad tressel above Oakland Place SE Saturday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Onlookers take pictures of the Cedar River over Oakland Place SE Saturday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Water from the Cedar River completely covers Oakland Place SE Saturday morning, the result of heavy rains received overnight that were added to rains receiveed earlier in the week. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Heavy rains that fell overnight and in the days prior have swelled local waterways creating havoc across the southeastern Minnesota and close to home.
Rising waters have closed portions of Interstate 90 in Mower County and other places of southeastern Minnesota as well as in portions of southwestern Minnesota. Water has also affected roads through out the county and in one instance the Austin Fire Department had to rescue someone from a car, who had attempted to drive through water that was up to the headlights.
The rescue came around 8 a.m. Saturday morning on County 46 running along Interstate 90. Mower County Sheriff Steve Sandvik said the person had been stranded in the car for approximately 30 minutes before AFD could reach them.
“We’ve stopped and warned a lot of people about driving around barricades,” Sandvik said.
Locations on Country Road 14 have been covered, but have since receded, however, in LeRoy, Sandvik said the Little Cedar was on the rise and threatening to close County 14 on the north edge of the community. Sandvik said that on the east side of town water had risen to within 20-30 yards of homes.
In Austin, water from the Cedar River and other bodies have been causing problems on the east of the city. Water has completely inundated Oakland Place SE reaching nearly to 11th Street SE as well as stretching west. Downtown city crews shut down the intersection of Oakland Avenue East and Fourth Street NE as waters rose and a ditch running between Sixth Avenue SE and a side road had overrun its edges and flooded streets.
The National Weather Service is now predicting the Cedar River will peak at 21 feet just after midnight, a foot over major flood levels at 20 feet. At around 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, the river was at 17.90 feet. Turtle Creek is expected to peak at 14.20 feet and was at 11.90 feet at around 10:30 a.m.
According to the NWS, much of the area has received well over two inches of rain, with observations in Austin coming in close to four inches of rain with isolated amounts totaling as high as five and six inches.
The area remains under a flood warning until around 10 a.m. on Monday morning. While the chance of rain is diminishing, rivers and creeks will continue to rise causing problems throughout the day and into Sunday.
Law enforcement in both Austin and the county advise people not to risk driving through high water and not to drive around barriers.
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