Several rounds of thunderstorms began during the week of June 14th, and continued through most of the week with areas of flash flooding. The flash flooding evolved into areal flooding, and then main-stem river flooding which continued through the end of the month. The hardest hit areas were from New Ulm to Mankato, northeast through the length of the Minnesota River, and the Twin Cities Metro area which had major problems associated with Lake Minnetonka that drains eastward across the cities (Minnehaha Creek), and into the Mississippi near St. Paul. Plus, area lakes continued to rise which created more problems with lake houses inundated with the rising lake levels.
Parts of Minnesota received 10-12 inches of rain from June 14th through the 23rd, which is 400-600% above normal. In addition, the Twin Cities had their wettest start of the year since 1871. Local damage assessments initially reported flood damaged homes, businesses, roads, and infrastructure across a large part southern Minnesota.
The Minnesota State Emergency Operations Center was partially activated on June 16, and then was fully activated on June 18. On June 19, the Governor of Minnesota declared a State of Emergency for 35 counties.
During the height of the flooding the following were impacts according from local officials:
Scott County: Multiple reports of road closures due to high water and debris. Sporadic power outages reported throughout the county. Mudslides in Blakeley closed the train tracks in the area, impacting Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific rail operations. Highways 6, 41 and 101 were closed due to the Minnesota River flooding.
Carver County: More than 30 local and county roads were closed due to flooding, including around the communities of Chaska, Mayer, Hollywood, Camden, Dahlgren, Young America and Watertown. During the height of the flooding, all river crossings along the Minnesota River were closed.
Faribault County: Multiple local and county roads were closed; there were some impacts to wastewater treatment plants and drinking water systems.
Rice County: A Faribault wastewater sludge pond overtopped.
St. Paul Airport deployed a flood wall, which closed two of their shorter runways.
Minneapolis: A 100-yard mudslide occurred at the edge of the Fairview-University of Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis. No structural damage occurred and engineers determined that there was no threat to the hospital. Debris from the mudslide flowed into the Mississippi River and caused problems downstream at the locks and dams.
Sibley County: Mudslides were going into some residences. The City of Henderson was sandbagging due to flood waters.
Dakota County: The City of Mendota was evacuated due to a large mudslide that could have potentially affected several homes. MnDOT closed one lane on 35W due to the Minnesota River flood waters. Due to the flood waters affecting downtown St. Paul and Harriet Island, the Taste of Minnesota and the 4th of July Fireworks were moved to a different location.
Wright County: Water levels rose in Delano. The city constructed a temporary clay levee to mitigate flooding issues. The primary impacts were flooding of low-level roads and minor basement flooding that began to affect homes closest to the river. Water levels of the Crow River at Delano were the highest in 50 years.
Mankato: Flooding caused the evacuation of an apartment complex.
Brown County; Highway 13 that crosses the Minnesota River was closed due to flood waters.
The Minnesota State Patrol reported that Highway 169 between Mankato and St. Peter, from milepost 61 to 64, was closed due to a debris flow of mud and trees.
In Edina/St. Louis Park; Flood waters approached the Methodist Hospital due to the swollen Minnehaha Creek. Several streets along Minnehaha Creek in St. Louis Park were closed due to flood waters.
The following were some of the roads closed in south central Minnesota:|Hwy 19 west of Gaylord (Sibley County)|Hwy 19 east of Henderson (Sibley County)|Hwy 93 south of Henderson (Sibley County)|Hwy 4 between Sleepy Eye and Fairfax (Brown, Nicollet, Renville Counties)|Hwy 22 north of Gaylord (Sibley County)|Hwy 112 west of LeCenter (Le Sueur County)|Hwy 169 SB between St. Peter and LeSueur (Le Sueur County)|Hwy 13 near Kilkenny (Le Sueur County)|Hwy 14 west of Springfield (Brown County)|Hwy 19 west of Henderson (Sibley County)|Hwy 83 north of St. Clair (Blue Earth County).
Flood damage to public structures during Minnesota’s rainiest June on record stands at $48 million. The following are some individual counties and cost assessment:
Blue Earth, $2.3M
Brown, $850,000
Carver, $9.2M
Chippewa, $75,000
Faribault, $150,000
Freeborn, $625,000
Hennepin, $4.0M
Le Sueur, $1.1M
McLeod, $300,000
Nicollet, $500,000
Ramsey, $1.9M
Renville, $750,000
Scott, $9.0M
Sibley, $3,9M
Steele, $2.4M
Waseca, $30,000.