ST. PAUL — As much as six inches of rain hit parts of Minnesota again on Tuesday prompting additional response by local officials. The Department of Public Safety Homeland Security and Emergency Management division (HSEM) continues to work with community leaders and emergency managers in regions affected by the on-going severe storms.
Several local emergency operations centers have been activated and some cities and counties are drafting emergency declarations for their communities.
Sandbagging efforts continue in several northern Minnesota counties due to the recent heavy rainfall.
Numerous roads are closed or have been impacted by flooding, especially in southern Minnesota. MnDOT has the latest information at 511mn.org.
The latest information reported to the State Emergency Operations Center:
Southeast Region
Blue Earth County
• County Emergency Operations Center partially activated to respond to mudslide and flooded roads.
• Highway 66 south of Mankato is closed from Blue Earth County Road 90 to County Road 9
Rice County
• Emergency Operations Center partially activated to respond to flooding
• Minnesota Correctional Facility –Faribault has significant flooding in a workshop area. Officials are working with the SEOC logistics staff regarding pumps and sandbags
• City of Faribault is closely monitoring water levels on the Straight and Cannon River
Steele County
• Emergency Declaration in place
• Emergency Operations Center partially activated
• City is sandbagging public infrastructure
• Residents are sandbagging private homes
Waseca County
• Numerous roads closed due to high water
Freeborn County
• Home in Albert Lea heavily damaged from straight line winds
• Public Works officials are pumping flooded streets
• City of Maple Island without power
Southwest Region
Rock County
• Emergency Declaration signed
• County reports 20 culverts washed out and travel is limited throughout the county due to road closures
• County officials estimate 100,000 acres of crop loss. There are 250,000 tillable acres in the county. They report the loss will have a ‘significant economic impact’.
• Meeting planned for Thursday to discuss damages
Brown County
• County officials conducting damage assessments on township and county roads
• Mudslide reported on County Road 10
Northern Minnesota
Koochiching County
• Assessing need for additional sandbagging machine
• Rainy Lake is predicted to crest in mid-July
St. Louis County
• Sandbagging efforts continue at Kabetogama
State Emergency Operations Center
The State Emergency Operations Center remains activated at level III to help officials in southern and northern Minnesota respond to damage from recent severe storms.
Level III is a partial activation that requires staff from HSEM to meet with officials from various state agencies to determine whether state resources are necessary to recover from the damage. Currently no local officials have requested state resources.
HSEM staff members continue to monitor severe weather predictions for the coming week and remain in contact with local officials to make sure any needs for state assistance are met.
HSEM is working with local officials to begin the process of assessing damage in affected areas. Local officials will provide HSEM with information in the coming days.
