Flood warnings were extended once again Sunday as lakes and rivers continued to rise in the Mankato area following a two-day rainfall that poured as much as 8 inches on an already-soaked region.
Major sandbagging efforts were underway in St. Clair and Waterville, the Minnesota River in Mankato was projected to rise to its highest level in 31 years, and federal officials toured struggling communities.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who visited Waterville with Sen. Tina Smith and Rep. Angie Craig, was struck by both the amount of water inundating the city and the effort being put forth to keep it at bay.
“They’ve now moved 70,000 sandbags — all these volunteers,” Klobuchar told The Free Press Sunday afternoon. “It was just such a show of community spirit.”
The battle that’s been underway since Thursday in Waterville came to St. Clair on Sunday. City officials announced Saturday that they were piling sand near a vulnerable neighborhood adjacent to the Le Sueur River in case anyone wanted to do sandbagging as the river began to swell.
“With the additional rainfall there is concern the river will continue to rise and out of precaution the city is providing sand and sandbags to this area for residents to have access to. Bring your own shovel. Please be neighborly and help as you can! We will continue to monitor the rising river.”
The situation was more dire by Sunday morning, but people responded when an urgent call for volunteers was issued.
“What a turnout!!” city officials proclaimed later on Sunday. “Thank you to everyone who showed up to help their neighbors!! What a team effort!! Thank you!!”
“Looks like now we wait,” the latest update stated. “The river will continue to rise and we will keep tabs on the river.”
In Mankato, the focus is on the Minnesota River, which was approaching 27 feet early Sunday evening. The National Water Prediction Service was predicting the level would move by midnight into the top five ever measured in the city — surpassing the 27.07-foot mark in April 1969 and 27.61 feet reached in April 1997.
The federal hydrologists were projecting a crest of 28.3 feet at 1 a.m. Tuesday, which would just edge out the 28.25 measured in September 2010. If the forecasts are correct, the current flood would trail only the 29.09 feet of April 1965, the 29.9 feet of April 1881 and the 30.11 feet reached on June 21, 1993.
Mankato’s extensive flood-control system, built in the decades following the historic flooding in the 1950s and 1960s, made for a comparatively quiet Sunday compared to what was happening in some neighboring communities. But the high water was enough to close two more city parks — Kiwanis Recreation Area on the city’s northern edge and Mni Wašté, which is adjacent to one of the flood-control system’s diversion channels south of Mankato.
Mankato city staff were closely monitoring the flood walls and levees. They also continued to compile information on the damage from the flash flooding that closed streets, swamped lower levels of parking garages and sent water streaming through countless basements on Friday.
The damage and potential damage in Waterville were worse with multiple homes already flooded. The Waterville Chamber of Commerce announced on its Facebook page Sunday night that The Village, a former nursing home now operating as a nonprofit event center, was housing residents displaced from their homes by the flooding and was seeking food donations.
Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime state of emergency Saturday night and authorized assistance for the town of 1,753 after the Le Sueur County sheriff requested logistics and operations support from the National Guard.
“Across the state, intense rain has had catastrophic effects,” Walz said in a statement just after 9 p.m. “Flooding has left entire communities under feet of water, causing severe damage to property and numerous road closures. As flooding continues, the National Guard is ready to step up to help our neighbors. Their response will provide invaluable support that will be critical in ensuring the safety of Minnesotans during this difficult time.”
The announcement from the governor’s office stated: “In Le Sueur County, the City of Waterville and surrounding community have experienced approximately 14-18 inches of rainfall. In lakes Tetonka and Sakatah, and the Cannon River, water has reached uncontrollable levels. Residents have been evacuated and the flood has already caused significant damage.”
If damage to public infrastructure reaches $132,000, Le Sueur County will meet its threshold for federal disaster assistance, Klobuchar said, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency covering 75% of eligible expenses. And if $10.5 million of damage occurs to public infrastructure statewide, all counties could be eligible for aid.
The federal lawmakers also visited flood-threatened areas in Carver and Northfield Sunday after touring northern Minnesota counties that were hit with torrential rains earlier in the week. Despite what she had seen, Klobuchar wouldn’t make a definitive prediction that the damage thresholds will be met.
“I think they will be,” she said. “But again, it hasn’t been met yet.”
Klobuchar asked Minnesotans to take seriously the advice of public safety officials, noting a report by Waterville’s police chief of a driver attempting to plow through a flooded street.
“He’s OK, but he lost his vehicle,” she said.
Mostly, though, Klobuchar saw a spirit of teamwork and perseverance in the people of Waterville and in the outsiders assisting them on Sunday.
“It helps it’s not raining today,” she said of the positive mood in the community.
That was a widespread opinion across Minnesota, particularly the southern third. Saturday brought a discouraging additional ½ inch to 1 inch of rain for most of the region.
For the period starting late Thursday through Saturday afternoon when the skies finally began to clear, amateur weather stations had total rainfalls ranging from as little as 3.64 inches in St. Peter to 6.37 in Waterville to 7.6 in Eagle Lake to 7.82 just southeast of Mankato to 8.84 three miles south of Mankato.
Exhausted southern Minnesotans will need to continue keeping an eye on the forecast, particularly late Monday and Thursday. The National Weather Service in Chanhassen reported Sunday night in a forecast discussion that complex conditions were shaping up to create a “boom or bust” weather event late Monday night. The most likely scenario would mostly spare southern Minnesota from additional large storms.
The “slightly less favored but still possible scenario” could offer a much harsher outcome late Monday and into Tuesday morning: “If this were to happen, we could be in for a round of storms, possibly strong, before they taper out by late morning.”
A larger weather system arriving late Thursday into Friday “may threaten to produce additional rounds of heavy rain,” the forecast discussion stated.