As part of WCCO Radio’s "Year-In-Review," reporter Mark Freie takes a look at the catastrophic flooding that left communities across Minnesota in ruin.
Waterville mayor Bill Conlin knows June 2024 will be a month he and countless others will never forget as catastrophic flooding swept through southern Minnesota uprooting homes, businesses, and caused the more-than-century-old Rapidan Dam to suffer a partial failure that would leave a lasting impact for years to come.
“We initially started with low lake levels and we made it through spring without significant flooding. June hit and we got this abundance of rain with a week of rain and another week of rain and just normal levels. Then all of a sudden we got hit with like three and a half inches of rain and then in the afternoon we got to get again with a couple more inches and then the next day we got here you just had a very unusual storm system that came through,” Conlin said. “That just left us with going from the lake levels being so low to just incredibly high and not even just like a flooding event, but this was almost three feet higher than our highest watermark, so just an enormous amount.”
The Le Seur County city of nearly 1,700 people was almost instantly submerged in water as residents and volunteers scrambled into action to salvage what little they could from homes and businesses.
“We eased into it where we had the water coming up and then we had these flood levels and we're all anticipating and asking what do you see in the system coming our way, how much water and how many days of it,” added Conlin. “The water just kept rising and rising and we literally are sand bagging and doing everything we can do to keep everything working and everything afloat. There were enormously long days with city staff and volunteers, thank God for them, and all of us trying everything we can do to keep the water out of these crucial areas.”
According to the National Weather Service, several rounds of thunderstorms developed and tracked across southern Minnesota from June 19th through the 21st, with some places picking up between 8 to 10 inches of rain.
The Rapidan Dam sits about 40 miles southwest of Waterville in Blue Earth County where Eric Weller is the emergency management director.
“It started raining on or around the 16th of June and for that week we had a couple inches here and a couple inches there and water levels were already high and things were rising,” Weller said. “We were sandbagging throughout Blue Earth County in Saint Clair and in certain areas where some other homes where rivers were rising. We were monitoring the rivers near the Rapidan Dam in the Minnesota, Blue Earth, and the Maple Rivers and all those. As time went on, the waters continued to rise and we had catastrophic damage.”
The dam’s spillway gave way into the Blue Earth River’s embankment as the river eroded the side, eventually claiming a white home left teetering over the edge. Though the images were shocking, the home had already been evacuated and no one was injured.
“We've always had some flooding in some of our towns, but in the past the rivers really have been able to take the water,” Weller said. “This year it just happened so quickly and then it came down. There were some indications near the Rapidan area that about 13 inches of rain fell in that time.”
The nearby Rapidan Dam Store, also at-risk of falling into the river, was ultimately purchased by Blue Earth County and demolished before it could fall into the river.
“There was an incredible amount of rain especially across the far southern portion of the state,” said Shawn DiVinny senior meteorologist with NWS north central river forecast center.
A rainy, wet spring from March through May reached the ultimate tipping point when June’s heavy rains arrived.
“When June came we had extreme rainfall especially south of Mankato and southward had the heaviest of the state,” DiVinny said. “In fact there were 11 counties across the southern portion of the state that saw their wettest June on record this year.
DiVinny said rain amounts in excess of 15 inches were reported in some areas, with12-plus inches reported for some areas in the month of June alone.
That included more than 8 inches of rain near the Rapidan Dam in a 24 hour period.
“Pretty much the whole state was wet from March through June,” added DiVinny. “In June in particular the eastern part of the state also got in on the heavy rain. Also places like Northern Minnesota and the town of Cook up had some really significant flooding in June that was very impactful.”
Communities impacted by the flooding quickly sprung into action, with neighbors and strangers working relentlessly to save whatever they could from rising flood waters.
For Weller, that meant some early wake-up calls.
“And then ultimately that call at 1:58 in the morning on that Monday morning, Sunday night that there was an explosion of some sort at the dam,” he said. “That’s what was reported to me and that was actually the energy transformer and the substation there had collapsed to some extent and fallen into the river. That was the explosion and then we responded from there. Then from there it was what do we do to really keep people safe and at the end of the day that's really what it was. There wasn't a lot we could do. It's not like we're going to stop this from happening, but keeping people safe not only the residents in that area but also the many people that came down and looked. We had thousands of people over those first initial weeks.”
For many residents in Waterville, the hope of returning to their flood ravaged homes seemed like a longshot and recovery continued months after the flood waters receded.
“We're seeing these homes elevated people have gone through FEMA and gone through SBA,” Conlin said. “We've got the 19 homes that were substantially damaged and we’ve got seven structures that have been elevated and one more in the beginning stage of the elevation. We've got another home that the scheduled for demolition and then it was going to be rebuilt in the spring. We’ve got flood programs out there and things like that are just a savior to this.”
In August, the Blue Earth County Board voted to remove the Rapidan Dam and to also remove and replace the nearby County Road 9 bridge.
It’s anticipated that sometime after the first of the year that the bridge will come down in anticipation of high water again in the spring,” Weller said. “We want to get that out of there. The designs are in process for that and that's one piece of it.”
While recovery will continue on, and floods may happen again, it’s the community and outpouring of support that sticks with many throughout so many communities like Waterville.
“Everyone came together for our sandbagging efforts. From our local government, surrounding towns, communities, and the county all the people literally turning out to sandbag and help the residents of this town is the number one story,” added Conlin. “The donations and the things that came in to try to help people like food, quilts, towels, cleaning supplies, and just all of these things together. The town feels so connected right now.”