Flooding has impacted Waseca and beyond over the last week, as steady rains have caused water levels in local rivers and lakes to rise.
Roads were closed around Waseca, with Highway 14 shut down Saturday west of Janesville, due to standing water on the streets. The county closed down a number of its roads, too. And other roads that did not close had shoulder washouts, while many gravel roads were in a state of disrepair.
The biggest impact the heavy rainfall had over the weekend in Waseca, beside the closure of Highway 14, was the flooding of Legion Park in New Richland. The baseball and softball fields right off of County Road 13 (140th Street) were completely full of water.
The New Richland Care Center’s back parking lot, located right next Legion Field, was also underwater. The flooding caused the city of New Richland to declare a state of emergency on Saturday due to expected damages.
New Richland has had some flooding trouble in the past, with the city trying to come up with ways to prevent it.
The city’s sewer systems were full and staff worked hard to decrease the load on the sewer system on Sunday. The city encouraged its citizens to try to not use water by doing dishes, doing laundry, or flush the toilet when it isn’t necessary.
Waseca did not have much damage as New Richland had, but the excessive amounts of rainfall caused the city to release an emergency discharge of wastewater into Clear Lake, Watkins Lake and Gaiter lake.
The city closed the beaches and boat ramps of the lakes because of this.
On Monday, after Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency under Minn. Stat. 12.31, Waseca County followed suit with its own emergency meeting pursuant to 13D.021. The Board of Commissioners had a quorum of three commissioners present today at 2 p.m. to meet for about two minutes to approve a resolution declaring the state of emergency.
“This is so that we can capture associated costs for damage to public infrastructure for potential state and federal reimbursement,” County Administrator Michael Johnson said.
I will also be meeting with Congressman Finstad afterward, as he is touring CD1 today to inquire on chronic flooding troubles in his district. We will be discussing the City of New Richland, Moonan Marsh and culvert designs on Highway 14 that led to its closure over the weekend.
Rapidan dam
Officials in Blue Earth County are closely monitoring the Rapidan Dam southwest of Mankato Monday amid concerns about a potential dam failure.
The county says the rain-swollen Blue Earth River has cut around the west side of the dam and there are concerns about debris in the river.
Blue Earth County Sheriff Jeff Wersal described the the dam as being in “imminent failure condition.” It’s unknown whether the dam will completely fail or stay in place.
Only two residents were identified in the emergency operations plan near the dam. Mankato is currently not in imminent danger of another flood, Wersal said.
Around the region
Neighbors gripped shovels and stuck them into a pile of sand in Waterville, as trucks and forklifts lined up to take them to people’s houses.
One of those houses is that of the Bombay family, who trudged through the knee-deep water and lined their property with sandbags Friday. With a similar situation quickly arising in Morristown and another sandbag operation in Faribault already underway, the situation appears dire. Additional rain is expected all weekend.
“Just this morning, I pulled in and this wasn’t here,” said one member of the Bombay family, who said they were too exhausted for a proper interview. “None of this was here an hour ago.”
Waterville resident Jon Snell said the flood is unprecedented.
“It broke the record already,” he said. “According to the river monitor, we’re already like 2.5 inches over 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.
“It’s never been up this high,” one Morristown woman said on a FaceTime call.
The famous Morristown Dam, which is where Morristown Dam Days gets its name, was the same height on both sides.
The self-serve station is at the Faribault Public Works Facility at 1200 Belview Avenue from 4-9 p.m. Friday. It will reopen Saturday at 7 a.m.
“The city is providing the sand and bags, and sandbag scoops will be available, but if you’re able and willing, bring a shovel,” Faribault Communications Director Brad Phenow said in a press release. “The city is not aware of streets being impacted by water as of now, but please drive cautiously as more rain is expected. As always, if you see barricades or ‘road closed’ signs, please do not proceed, these are in place for your safety.”
Rice County Emergency Preparedness Director Joe Johnson spent his entire day preparing emergency plans for Rice County. He urged people to sign up to EverBridge for emergency alerts, but said some emergency alerts might be sent to all phones in some areas.
“Don’t drive around barricades,” he said. “You never know what the road is like underneath. It could be washed out. Make sure you have a way to receive an alert, if there is some flash flooding: weather radio, cell phone, something like that. Don’t go swimming or drive through flood waters. If you do have a private well, there’ll be a link (on the county website) of mitigation steps you can take to protect that well from the flood waters, because that can cause a health risk if the floodwater gets into your private well.”
To sign up for EverBridge or check updates from the county, go to RiceCountyMN.gov/255/Emergency-Management online .
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