New Richland city administrator Tyler Lendt says the city is coming together after widespread flooding over the weekend impacted 80% of the homes in the city and forced evacuations from the New Richland Care Center.
"Friday night, the rain started coming down and my wastewater treatment plant operation said that within a matter of moments, the influx into the treatment plant went from 400 gallons a minute to 1,500 gallons a minute, so it basically pinned the meter, so it could've gone even higher," Lendt said.
36 residents inside the care center were evacuated and taken to the high school gymnasium. They've since been moved to other facilities.
"The care center is likely to be out of commission for six months to a year because of the amount of water they received," Lendt said. "It was hip-high in there."
A number of residents, including local high school student-athletes, firefighters, and volunteers worked together to fill sandbags early Saturday morning.
"Some of the residents are saying this is the worst they've seen it, including in 2010 which was the benchmark," Lendt said. "We have a new benchmark."
The 2010 flood also led to the evacuation of the New Richland Care Center and a three-month closure. The city has dealt with a number of floods in the past and has been working for years to address the issue.
"During the process, we've had state and federal partners, as well as the engineering firm that previously conducted the hydrology study, come out to get better estimates to apply to the model and tweak the plan we're working on to mitigate this. The big factor right now in mitigation is finishing the design, speaking to the right community members at the right time to make sure we secure the land for the plan, and then securing funding from the state and federal government to implement the plan."
New Richland with volunteers encouraged to help when they're able. The American Red Cross is providing cleanup buckets, while Waseca County Commissioners are expected to meet and declare a State of Emergency within the county.
Home and business owners are asked to document as much of the damage as possible and share it with the city.
"If they can take photos and note the time they were taken so we can see the progress of the floodwaters, so we can apply that to the model as well," Lendt said. "It also benefits everyone for insurance purposes to make sure the claims go through okay."
Donations of money and food are being sought for the New Richland Area Food Shelf. Donations can be sent to AFSNR Benevolence Fund P.O. Box 12 New Richland, Minnesota 56072.
Torrential rain also left places like Lanesboro and Ellandale flooded with up to 7 inches reported across that region. Damage reports a critical when it comes to how the National Weather Service documents and tracks future storms.
"Getting that kind of ground truth is important and helps in future events like this so we know what we've seen and it may lead us to act a little quicker when issuing warnings and things like that," said Melissa Dye, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.
More rain is expected in southern Minnesota on Monday, but Dye said it looked like the most impacted areas over the weekend would be spared from any significant accumulation.
This is a developing story.
