For the third time in fifteen years, the City of Northfield is dealing with a 100-year flood, and this one is record setting.
After days of heavy storms and precipitation dropped approximately 10 inches of rain throughout the river basin (from June 12-June 22nd), the Cannon River has spilled well over its banks, causing damage and hardship throughout the watershed. Rice County has declared a State of Emergency, and the City of Northfield is warning people to be very careful around the flooded areas.
At 9:30 Sunday night, the river rose to 901.52 feet, the highest ever recorded, and .02 of an inch higher than the 901.5 feet it reached in 2010. Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott said he is hopeful that will be the crest, but no one is saying for sure. Upstream from Northfield, the Cannon River communities of Waterville and Morristown have seen higher levels and very serious flooding. Elliott said that water will make its way to Northfield creating more problems. The flooding could become worse, he said, but even if the river does not rise any higher, it will remain above 900 feet, which is considered the major flood level, until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest.
Throughout the downtown Riverwalk corridor barricades have been put up for public safety. The 4th Street Bridge is closed, creating an opportunity for community onlookers to watch fallen trees bob up and down in a waterfall that has almost been overtaken by the river in front of the Ames Mill Dam.
Businesses along the river are barricaded and sandbagged. Employees of Carlson Capital Management used an army of sump pumps and extra hands as they worked to mitigate the flood damage to their office, located just below the 4th Street Bridge to the North of Bridge Square. Across the river, the new owners of Froggy Bottoms, who have been working very hard to get the popular bar & grill up and running again, were running sump pumps as well and relying on a flood wall installed after the 2010 flood devastated the restaurant and forced it to close for almost a year. The Carleton College Lighten Up garage Sale was forced to close on Friday and did not reopen on Saturday for the final day of the sale.
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, along with 2nd District U.S. Congresswoman Angie Craig toured flooded areas in Carver and Rice Counties yesterday, making a stop in Northfield. The delegation was briefed by city officials on the situation at the Northfield Fire Department. Chief Elliott presented the state of the river and what the national Weather Service is expecting. Rice County Emergency Manager Joe Johnson spoke about the private property damage in Waterville and Morristown, where single family homes, public buildings and manufactured home parks have all suffered significant damage. City Engineer Dave Bennett showed them the plans the city has been working on for two years to build a flood wall on the west side of the riverwalk, and another around Carleton College’s Laird Stadium. Senator Smith asked if that area had been affected by the flooding and was informed that Carleton’s entire athletic area on the East bank of the Cannon is underwater. Bennett said the city has applied for a FEMA grant to build the Riverwalk flood wall and another through President Biden’s infrastructure program that was passed by Congress in 2021 for the wall on the Carleton campus.
Senator Klobuchar advised Bennett that if the State reaches $10 million in flood damage, which it may have already surpassed, there will be more federal funding made available for such projects. Finally, Craig, Klobuchar and Smith took a walking tour along the banks of the river to see the flooding for themselves. Rice County Commissioner Galen Malecha, who along with Chief Elliott and Northfield Mayor Rhonda Pownell, escorted the Senators and Congresswoman Craig through town said their visit should send a very important message.
“They care enough to come here and survey the damage, and that’s very important for any business owner and the homeowners over in Morristown and Faribault. For them to drive down here and see the devastation in Northfield, the devastation in Morristown for them to see it, it should mean a lot. Because when you see it first-hand versus just hearing about, it makes a big difference.”
With the river flooded some thirty miles upstream, the recession of the flood will be a slow process. The National Water Prediction Service graph predicts the river will drop below 900 feet at about 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. After that, the cleanup should take some time as well. County and City officials hope that the visit from the state’s federal elected officials will translate to funding from the federal government to aid with the work that comes next.
Candidates Forum will be preceded by high school facility tour
And the Northfield Chamber of Commerce will hold a candidates forum this evening at the Northfield High School Auditorium.
With seven people running for mayor and three running for 2nd Ward City Councilor, a primary will be held on August 13th. The people with the two highest vote totals will move on and face off in the general election.
The forum is the first of several that will be held over the coming months in order to help voters educate themselves, especially with such a large number of people running this year.
The public is invited to email questions for the candidates prior to the forum to info@northfieldchamber.com.
The League of Women Voters will hold a candidates forum on Thursday night at Buntrock Commons on the St. Olaf College campus.
Prior to the forum, the Northfield School District will hold a tour of the high school facility for voters to learn more about the needs of the school and why there will be a referendum on the ballot this fall to renovate the building. Attendees should use High School door #10 to enter the building and meet in the media center.
The high school tour will start at 4pm. The candidates forum will begin at 6:30.
KYMN Daily News 6/24/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
