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TOM: It's coming up on 5:21 now. And back to Duluth, where there haven't been any major injuries reported in the flooding around the city. But Duluth is still getting an assessment of the extent of the damage, as we heard from Dan Kraker.

To get the latest now, we've called mayor Don Ness, who has declared a state of emergency today, and he joins us live from Duluth. Mayor Ness, good to speak with you.

DON NESS: Thank you, Tom.

TOM: So at this hour, 5:21 Wednesday evening, what's your most urgent concern going into the evening with this flooding situation and some additional rain expected?

DON NESS: Well, our primary concern is the integrity of our road beds. And what we're finding is as the water-- 9 inches of water flow down our streets, and it's undercutting some of the road beds. And we're seeing sinkholes, and the roads collapsing in places.

And so there's a real danger there. Our crews are making a priority to make sure that we cordon off all those streets and encourage Duluthians to not go and venture, especially at our trout streams that are overflowing.

TOM: Now, how much of a chance today have you had to get out and survey the damage?

DON NESS: Not much. I have went around my neighborhood here and see some of the avenues up and down the hill that are buckled and completely washed away in some cases. So the damage is extensive.

The Weather Service has indicated this is a 500-year storm. We had, in some cases, 9 inches of rain within a 24-hour period. And when you add that to the momentum of the water rushing down the hill, it created tremendous pressure within our storm water system and simply overwhelmed it.

TOM: And from reports you've gotten, what is the worst of the damage?

DON NESS: Well, I mean, city streets have been completely destroyed by this. And we're concerned about the underground infrastructure, our stormwater system and the roadbed itself and the damage there. We may not have a full assessment of that for many days, if not weeks down the line to get a clear sense of what the damage has been done.

TOM: Have you yourself talked to Governor Dayton today? I understand he's headed there tomorrow.

DON NESS: Yes, we had a very good conversation this morning. He indicated his full support and whatever he could do. And we, of course, greatly appreciate his leadership. Also, our congressional delegation, both senators and the congressmen have called to indicate their support. And clearly, we're looking at this as a federal disaster. And we're hopeful that the president will also see it that way and issue that declaration.

TOM: Tell us about those steps. Do you petition the president or does the Congressional delegation, or how does that work?

DON NESS: Well, I think it will be both. We'll certainly make our case. And we're documenting all the damage that has been done by this storm. We'll rely heavily on the governor and our congressional delegation to help deliver that message.

But clearly, when you look at the extent of this damage, I think clearly we'll qualify. And the difference here is it's a different type of flooding event than Minnesotans have been accustomed to. It's not an overflowing river. This is 9 inches of rain falling across the city and then streaming at great pace down this hill and creating a tremendous amount of pressure within the infrastructure.

So it's a flood that has damaged the integrity of the infrastructure below the city streets. And so it's both very difficult to assess the extent of the damage, as well as we're concerned the cost that it's going to take to fix.

TOM: I understand you evacuated one neighborhood, the Fond Du Lac neighborhood. Are there stations set up for people if they need help or they need to spend the night somewhere with that level of assistance?

DON NESS: Yes, the Red Cross has established two sites, one in Colleton County and the site in Duluth is the Coppertop church on top of the hill. I've been very pleased with the level of support both from the Red Cross and all of our agency partners. It's been a real team effort. It's been nice to see. How about drinking water? What's the situation and sewers?

DON NESS: Yeah, there have been rumors about the drinking water being affected. That's not the case. The drinking water is just fine. The sanitary sewer system was overwhelmed by the amount of clean Water entering the system. And so we have had overflows, although we're not sure at this point what the extent of those overflows have been.

TOM: Do you think it's a situation where the infrastructure of the city just wasn't up to this or just that this is an extraordinary amount of water?

DON NESS: It's the latter. Just a month ago, we had 8 inches of rain over the course of five days, and our system held up just fine. No overflows and our stormwater systems handle the volume. You can't anticipate, or you can't build a stormwater system to anticipate a 500-year rain event. And so that's the reason that it was over overwhelmed, and now we see the damage and have to be focused on picking up the pieces.

TOM: And, at this point, any reports of any serious injuries you're aware of?

DON NESS: No, it's been a real blessing. We've had a couple of close calls, folks getting too close to our trout streams. And that's one thing that we're really stressing right now is stay away from the streams. It's awesome to see the raging streams heading down the hill, but we're especially concerned about kids getting too close.

And we've had a couple of examples, a couple of close calls of kids getting swept into the stream. And so we're urging restraint and telling folks to stay away from those streams. Duluth mayor, Don Ness, thanks for your time. Appreciate it. Best of luck.

DON NESS: Thanks.

TOM: It's 5:27.