Shoot, when I saw the title of the thread I thought you guys were monitoring the weather situation here in Minnesota.... I live in Scott County, btw; should be an interesting commute across the river on Monday...
Rain inundates southern Minnesota; Pawlenty declares state of emergency
Residents across southern Minnesota were up to their necks in mess and misery after rains of 10 inches and more. "We'll call it Lake Wewillbegone," said Owatonna's Jerry Gagne, looking at Maple Creek after it flooded his house.
OWATONNA, MINN. - Jerry Gagne tried to sleep through the intense downpour Wednesday night in Owatonna. But the rain wouldn't have it.
"Twelve forty-five this morning, my foot fell off the bed and hit the water, and we've been dealing with it ever since," said Gagne, who lost all his personal belongings when Maple Creek, the usually placid, 8-foot-wide stream across the street, barged into his house.
Gagne was one of hundreds of Minnesotans besieged by water after a freakish early autumn rain knocked residents out of homes, closed schools and businesses, flooded countless rural roads and overwhelmed municipal sewer systems from Truman in southwestern Minnesota to Zumbro Falls, 150 miles to the northeast.
Some state highways, including Hwy. 52 near Zumbrota, were closed throughout the day. Rep. Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, alerted his constituents on Twitter during the day to avoid gravel roads west of the city because Lyon County officials were running out of "Road Closed" signs.
But no injuries were reported.
Residents remained on alert for rising waters Thursday night. Relatively insignificant rain is expected to linger Friday.
Weather officials noted that the metro area will share in the impact next week, when stormwater flowing down the Minnesota River should reach the Twin Cities.
Steve Buan, service coordination hydrologist with NOAA's North Central River Forecast Center, based in Chanhassen, said it appears "very likely" that river crossings along the Minnesota from Jordan to Savage could be closed. Scott County emergency manager Chris Weldon said approaches to some bridges could be closed as soon as Saturday.
River monitors on Thursday were projecting that the Minnesota would rise 15 feet by Tuesday, to a point close to its fifth-highest level on record.
"The south metro is going to be a problem," Buan said. "This is extraordinarily unusual for this time of year."
Staff writer Paul Walsh and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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