Twin Cities park goers eager for floodwaters to recede

MINNEAPOLIS — Monday was a rare dry day in Minneapolis, and it was a good opportunity to check out Minnehaha Falls.

"Last year there was a garden hose running over the falls. That's why we brought everybody down here because it's a real, real event this year," said Le Sueur resident Lee Swenson.

This year's flooding closed Fort Snelling State Park, which is still waiting to be cleaned up. But that's not getting everybody down.

"Actually not too bad," said Minneapolis resident and biker Jerry Yost. "There's a lot of alternative routes, and even going through Fort Snelling State Park, it's very passable by bike. Cars wouldn't be able to get through because there's fallen trees."

The state park office was sandbagged for the potential of a foot of water inside. Thankfully it stayed dry, but there will be plenty of debris to be cleaned up as the water recedes across the park.

"The water is high, that's for sure, but… like the around the lakes in Minneapolis there's no issues," Yost said.

A weather pattern change will continue to improve conditions everywhere as we slowly dry out, but will also heat up.

"When it gets warmer, that's probably more of an obstacle than the rain," Yost said.

Outdoor enthusiasts will have to start monitoring the heat as we could hit our first 90-degree high of the year this weekend .

Over the next few days, you may come out to your favorite park and still see the park closed signs. That will be the case until officials can come out and see that the water has receded. The parks will then need to be cleaned to ensure the safety of visitors.