MANKATO — Some low-income families lost their belongings in Wednesday night’s flood. Lower-level residents of Homestead Apartments had to be evacuated.
Nichelle Shannon isn’t sure how far-reaching the flood was but said “for sure” all eight lower-level apartment dwellers in her daughter’s 130 building were affected.
“A lot of families lost everything,” she said.
Her daughter and grandkids have lived there for three years. Their home flooded last year but “not to this extent,” Shannon said. “It flooded but not this bad.”
Daughter ReÁl Shannon and her two kids, 10 and 6 years old, are staying at the Motel 6 off Highway 22. Homestead is a Section 42 affordable apartment complex with lots of single mothers and disabled, Nichelle Shannon said.
“Any help these families can get is appreciated,” she said. (Those interested in donating can contact Nichelle Shannon at chelle6148@gmail.com.)
Elsewhere in Mankato, the rain was intense, but short-lived, authorities say.
“There was minor flooding in a short duration,” said Karl Keel, interim public works director for the city of Mankato, on Thursday afternoon about city streets. “There’s nothing under water anymore, certainly.
“It’s not like last spring. There were streets under water for days. There’s none of that. There was some flooding in the street, but it was gone within 20 minutes or so. But from a resident point of view, it’s scary to drive through water in intersections. That can be scary without a doubt.”
Mankato got hit with nearly 6 inches of rain, said Caleb Grunzke, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, with rain falling from 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to 12:30 a.m. Thursday. He said Mankato was the “big winner” for rainfall, seeing the most compared to other Minnesota towns.
“Over 5 inches of rain fell in around six hours,” he said. “That’s a lot. That’s crazy numbers.”
The heaviest rain fell in Skyline at nearly 6 inches. Rainfall totals varied greatly throughout southern Minnesota, with Nicollet only seeing .18 inches, Le Sueur .19 inches and St. Peter .48 inches. And a funnel cloud was spotted near St. Clair on Wednesday night.
“A tornado did not occur,” Grunzke said, adding no damage was reported from the cloud.
In North Mankato, Thursday’s Music in the Park was postponed because of flooding at Wheeler Park. The event is rescheduled for Aug. 28.
Also in North Mankato, an off ramp had to be closed periodically Wednesday night due to flooding. The ramp is on northbound Highway 169 onto Lookout Drive, said Scott Morgan, assistant district engineer for maintenance in District 7 for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
No vehicles were trapped. The ramp was closed twice Wednesday night and traffic was detoured through lower North Mankato, Morgan said. “This has happened before. We’re prepared for it.”
Grunzke reports that another hot and steamy weekend might be ahead, with a chance of rain into Monday. However, it might only impact northern Minnesota.
“Mankato might be OK for this next potential rainfall,” he said.