WASECA, Minn. (AP) - Hundreds of residents in flood-ravaged Waseca and St. Clair are dealing with property damage while state transportation officials waited for the water to recede to begin inspecting inundated roads and bridges.
The Mankato Free Press (https://bit.ly/2d03Ny1 ) reported that the Minnesota Department of Transportation was able to reopen the last closed section of Highway 14 near Janesville on Sunday morning.
Transportation department district maintenance engineer Jed Falgren said Highway 83 just north of St. Clair remained closed at a bridge over the Le Sueur River, and a nearly half-mile stretch of Highway 30 east of Mapleton remained at least partly under water Sunday.
According to Felgren the department hoped to open both of those roads sometime Monday, only if the water level dropped and bridges could be inspected for problems under daylight.
“It might slow its retreat,” Falgren said of the relatively light rains effect on the Le Sueur River. “But it shouldn’t bring it up much.”
Nine other sections of state highway in the area were reopened to traffic earlier after also being impacted by the storm.
St. Clair held an emergency City Council meeting Sunday morning, in which they officially declared a disaster and began planning for clean-up.
Residents have been asked to not flush toilets, take showers or put any water down the drain. Instead they used basins for brushing teeth and washing before tossing the water on to their lawns.
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Information from: The Free Press, https://www.mankatofreepress.com
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