Community members, sandbags help mitigate damage during floods

Sandbag barriers helped to prevent this weekend’s historic flood from entering or destroying property, whether homes or businesses. Some volunteers spent the entire day prepping sandbags for others in local communities.

Sandbags were used in Morristown, Faribault, Northfield, Warsaw, Waterville and more over the weekend. The sandbag stations saw many visitors who were volunteering to help others fill or deliver to those in need.

Businesses and residents used sandbags to build makeshift walls around their property, including Xcel Energy.

A representative from Xcel said teams were deployed in Faribault as the water reached a power station near Riverchase Apartments.

“Severe weather has kept our crews busy in southern Minnesota for the past several days,” said Xcel Energy Senior Media Relations Representative Theo Keith said. “On Saturday, crews placed sandbags around our equipment to protect from the flooding in the Faribault area. This ensured we were able to maintain reliable electric service for our customers in the area.”

Faribault Mill Finance Support Rachel Kroeger said the floods in the basement weren’t as bad as before, since a berm was put in front of the building in 2019. Still, water entered the basement and was being pumped out Monday.

“When it flooded before, the building was empty because of bankruptcy,” she said. “So it didn’t actually affect anyone, other than hurting a few machines. This time though, we’re actually here. So it’s not as bad as back then, but we’re actually here to experience it this time.”

In Waterville, Ali Malecha held off the water for as long as possible, thanks to the help of the community and family. But, on Sunday, the fortifications gave way and her home was ultimately flooded, just 20 days after purchasing it.

Up the street from Malecha’s neighborhood, a small creek practically became a river by Friday afternoon. In some areas, water had reached the top of people’s fences.

“I didn’t realize it was getting this bad,” one Waterville resident said as she looked out into the road in front of her house. “I’ve seen it get up into the yards, but not like this. This is like a lake. This used to be just a little creek.”

Down the road, another group of residents were moving their recreational vehicles from a lot where water quickly was rising. Across the bridge, the road, entire yards and the base of every house was fully submerged.

From out of the woods, from a small clearing in the trees, a little red boat came floating through the moving water. Charlie Potthier, of Waterville, climbed over the railing of the bridge and landed on the boat.

“I’ve never seen it this high,” he said. “It flooded once in 2010 or 2014, maybe, but even then it wasn’t this bad.”

Jon Snell used a cane for Potthier to grab so he could pull him and the boat to the road.

At any given moment, families could be seen carrying pillows and blankets and coolers to their vehicles, seemingly preparing to evacuate homes. Not many people were willing to go on the record.

Away from the river, citizens were led by city employees at the sandbag operation. Travel down the highway for a bit, and Morristown faces the same issues.

A lot of sandbagging was done by the community in Morristown, said Morristown Mayor Tony Lindahl.

"We've gone through 10 truckloads of sand, done about 8,000 bags, all by hand," he said. "The community has always stepped up with whatever has to be done here, and just not in disaster, but in fun. And, you know, with all the events that go on in Morristown, it's always been a community event. This is nothing different. It just happened to be not a good time of year."

Headed the same direction, Faribault has its own problems. A sandbagging operation began at 4 p.m. Friday and continued through the weekend.

City of Faribault Communications Director Brad Phenow said a handful of requests from the community came in and posted online, asking how or where they could help out. City staff directed them to the Faribault Public Works Facility to pre-fill sandbags for folks.

“It never ceases to amaze me how this community steps up time and again to lift each other up,” Phenow said. “We’re fortunate to have neighbors looking out for one another on a daily basis; it’s truly what makes Faribault such a great community to call home.”

Tammy LaMotte lives near King Mill Dam in Faribault and said the community didn’t just step up to fill sandbags.

“I have a river running through my basement with 6 inches of standing water,” she said. “The sewer is full, so water is not going down the drains. And I have the lake coming in through my backyard, like a major waterfall that won’t stop. So, I put a help thread on my Facebook to ask for help.

“L&K Concrete responded right away, and Ben Young, who is my hero, came to my rescue with another sump pump, set it all up for me, sucked most of the water out and told me to keep the pump as long as I needed it. Wow, what a godsend Ben Young is. He even offered to buy me another pump if needed. It is a blessing to live in a community so ready to help each other out.”