MPR’s Marisa Helms reports on the status of flooding along rivers in Minnesota as some begin to crest. As officials and residents finish flood preparations, they now monitor dikes and levees, waiting to see what happens next. The Minnesota River has already crested in the Granite Falls and Montevideo area.
The Mississippi River Flood of 2001 brought the 2nd to 3rd highest crests on record to many Mississippi River locations, including Lake City, Wabash, and Winona. The Mississippi River impacted the metro as well. It crested at 23.8 feet in St. Paul, submerging riverfront parks, the airport, and closing roads. The flooding was responsible for numerous deaths in Minnesota.
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MARISA HELMS: The National Weather Service reports, the Minnesota River has crested in the Montevideo and Granite Falls area. The crest should hit Mankato tomorrow and move downstream, reaching the Twin Cities by the end of the week.
Assistant director of Emergency Management Chris Eddy says new forecasts show that 1 inch of rain should fall somewhere in the state on Thursday and Friday, affecting when communities can shift from preparation to recovery.
CHRIS EDDY: In Montevideo and Granite Falls, they can handle that 1 inch of rain. But if the rain falls in the Twin Cities area, it might not be the same story on the lower Mississippi. They may not be able to handle that 1 inch quite as well, because it will just be cresting and not be falling at that time.
MARISA HELMS: The Minnesota River in Montevideo has reached 22 feet or 8 feet above flood stage. About 40 homes in the Smith addition housing area at the Minnesota and Chippewa Rivers have been evacuated. City manager Steve Jones says, though he knows Smith addition residents are anxious to get home, they'll have to stay in hotels or with friends until it's safe to return.
STEVE JONES: It really has to get to be 19 feet, or only 5 or 6 feet over flood stage before we can even get the sanitary sewer working in that area. And after that, we actually have to do inspections. So I know a lot of people want to get back in, but it's actually probably going to be a week from now before we can even start that process.
MARISA HELMS: Jones says a half dozen homes in Smith addition are already severely damaged, and 75% of them will have to deal with flooded basements. Xcel Energy's Prairie Island nuclear reactor and generating station on the Mississippi River near Wing, has begun flood preparations.
For the past couple of years, the plant's been run by nuclear management company, based in Hudson, Wisconsin. NMC's Maureen Brown says the Prairie Island plant continues to work at 100% capacity and has not been affected by flood waters. However, Brown says, forecasts say the river will continue to rise, hitting crest level later this week.
When it does, she says, the company will notify state agencies and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as part of what's called an unusual event, the lowest of four alert levels.
MAUREEN BROWN: In a nuclear environment, we make very, very conservative decisions. We don't wait for something to break. We spend a lot of time analyzing and we anticipate. And we would not want to operate these when they would be at risk of not functioning at a level of efficiency that's safe and acceptable to us.
MARISA HELMS: In Burnsville, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has erected a temporary 1/3 mile dike on northbound 35W along and south of the Minnesota River. MnDOT's Kent Barnard says it's more of a preservation measure than anything else.
KENT BARNARD: We are really more concerned about wave action from the backwaters eroding at the shoulders in that area. We're not concerned about water going over the roadway at this point at all because of the forecast. And the water did not reach the roadway in '97 either.
MARISA HELMS: So far, there are four presumed deaths as a result of flooding. There's the two young cousins from Olivia, who are presumed to have fell into a 16 foot deep ditch near their homes. The ditch runs about 16 miles to the Minnesota River.
And a few days ago, a teenager was swept into Chester Creek in Duluth. And most recently, a man was caught up in the Minnesota River's current and swept away after he drove his car around a flood barrier in Shakopee.
Safety officials continue to emphasize the danger of the state's overflowing rivers, and urge flood watchers to not drive around barriers or into standing water. This is Marisa Helms, Minnesota Public Radio.