As some SW Minnesota communities assess damage, others keep up flood fight over weekend

The flood fight continued along rivers in southwestern Minnesota this weekend, as other parts of the region assessed and cleaned up the damage after major flooding last week.

As the flood waters slowly receded and moved downstream along the Des Moines, Redwood, Cottonwood, Minnesota and other rivers, some communities shifted from flood response to assessment and recovery.

In Murray County, emergency management director Heath Landsman said information was starting to come in from officials and members of the public about flood damage caused by last Tuesday's torrential rain.

"There's culverts washed out, there's roads washed out, there's going to be a lot of damage," he said Sunday. "I haven't heard of anything major like bridges ... but I'm sure that all of our bridges are going to have to be looked at."

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Collin Peterson visited several communities in the flood zone on Sunday, including Tracy, Windom and New Ulm, to assess the damage and discuss federal disaster aid.

Under federal regulations, damage from the flood must exceed $7.7 million in Minnesota to qualify for federal assistance.

"One of the reasons we're out here is to go back to Washington to show them clearly this threshold has been met and we need to start getting help in here," Klobuchar said in Windom, where the Des Moines River was cresting at about 23.3 feet on Sunday — the second-highest level on record and just 1.4 feet shy of the all-time high set in 1969.

Paul Johnson, director of emergency management for Cottonwood County — of which Windom is the county seat — said the community stepped up and worked together to protect buildings and infrastructure over the weekend.

"We put out a call for volunteers to help fill sandbags and we had 153 registered volunteers (work) roughly 600 hours, just filling sandbags. So the community support has been great. Businesses have been donating food and water to the sandbaggers," he said.

Water levels on the Minnesota River between Mankato and the Twin Cities are forecast to rise again in the coming days, as tributaries swollen by the heavy rain empty into the main river. State Highway 93 south of Henderson and State Highway 19 east of Henderson remain closed because of high water along the river.

Find updates on flood closures along state highways here.