President Obama Signs Minnesota Disaster Declaration

President Barack Obama Wednesday declared a major disaster exists in Minnesota and ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and flooding during the period of Sept. 21-24.

Federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding in the counties of Blue Earth, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, and Waseca, according to a news release.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide. FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

During the late afternoon and evening of Sept. 21, strong thunderstorms formed in two places, a narrow band across the northern Twin Cities and over south central and southeast Minnesota. Heavy rains fell over the northern Twin Cities over the span of about seven hours from about 5:00 p.m. to around midnight, with lighter rains after that.

The highest total found so far with a manual rain gauge in the northern Twin Cities was 8.11 inches in Maple Grove. Some other higher totals found across the northern Twin Cities included 7.65 inches in northern Fridley in Anoka County. Some Hennepin County totals include: 6.27 inches at Maple Grove, 6.15 inches at Brooklyn Park and 5.88 inches at Brooklyn Center. 5.22 inches fell at Lexington in northern Ramsey County. There were sixty abandoned cars with water least to their doors in northwest metro suburbs during the height of the storm.

Another area of heavy rains fell in an area from Mankato eastward to the Mississippi River and then into Wisconsin. The highest 24-hour total ending on the morning of Sept. 22 was 7.64 inches in Waseca, according to a news release from the Department of Natural Resources. This brought the two-day total at that location to 10.16 inches, including the 2.52 inches of rain that fell with the first wave on Sept. 20-21. This is the highest two-day total ever recorded in Waseca. The large total reported by the nearby airport in Waseca did not correspond well with nearby rain gauge readings. The ground was already saturated at places like Waseca and this exacerbated the flooding situation. There were many reports of basements flooded, closed roads and standing water in Waseca and other locations as well. The indoor ice arena in Waseca had six inches of water on the freshly-iced rink. Loon Lake in Waseca rose over its banks and is flooding nearby streets in town. The rising waters of Fountain Lake in Albert Lea encroached into town during the day on Sept. 23, detouring Highway 65 (Main Street) near the lake.

I-90 was closed for a time in Austin on Sept. 22.

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