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MPR News Staff

Flash flood forces evacuation of riverside restaurant near St. Cloud

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More than 40 people were evacuated from a riverside restaurant near St. Cloud on Saturday night after a flash flood along the Sauk River — a flood apparently caused by an ice jam, one of many along Minnesota waterways in the past couple weeks.

The St. Cloud Times reported several fire departments used boats to evacuate diners from Anton's Restaurant in Waite Park after the flooding started at about 7:30 p.m.

A co-owner of the restaurant told KNSI radio that within a half-hour, there was a foot of water in the building.

Fire officials told KNSI that an ice jam along the river broke up later in the evening, and the water level started to fall.

In a post on Facebook, restaurant staff said "the ice went out on the Sauk River in full force. It was so powerful that the river couldn't contain the force and pushed its way over the banks into the parking lot and restaurant. On a Saturday night with a full house, the water swept through every room. ... We have NEVER experienced anything like this before. Yes, we've flooded but there has been forewarning and time to prepare."

The restaurant said it will reopen "as soon as possible."

Ice jams have caused flooding on other creeks and rivers across the state in the past two weeks. Earlier this month, an ice jam along Sand Creek flooded a neighborhood in Jordan, southwest of the Twin Cities.