Excess rain, flooding causing big problems with county roads

headline: Excess rain, flooding causing big problems with county roads

cutline: Journal Photo/Sue Kraft
City crews were working diligently this morning to keep streets clear after a downpour this morning caused some streets to flood. Above, Brad Halldorson cleans grass and weeds from a catch basin at the intersection of Second Street and Eighth Avenue. Also working at that intersection was Roger Hammond, not pictured.


By Mike Bellmore
Journal Features Editor
Storms that passed through the Lake Region late last week and earlier today continued to magnify water problems.
There were reports of over an inch and a half of rain in an early-morning deluge today, with more expected through Tuesday.
County Commissioner Joe Belford sounded urgent.
“This is not good,” he said today. “We’ve got to get an emergency plan in place to help people.”
Belford said he already had reports of over 4.5 inches of rain in Rohrville, and two in Devils Lake.
Roads, already in poor shape, were becoming virtually impassable in many areas.
He was planning a meeting of the County Commission at 1 p.m. today with emergency personnel  from around the county also asked to be present.
According to Jeff Frith, manager of the Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board, the area received about .91 inches last Thursday.
But the area did escape the wrath of storms that struck in other parts of the state.
Tornadoes were reported in areas north and east of Devils Lake, and extremely heavy rain pounded West Fargo.
But the prime concern this week lies right here in the Lake Region.
“This is not good,” Emergency Manager Tim Heisler said early today. “I’m in the process of compiling damage assessments right now.”
He said there were reports of water on Highway 2 in the Penn area, and reports of 3-4 inches of rain already early today in the Rohrville area.
There is concern for roads in the region, already saturated by rain. Infrastructure, lake shoreline and basements are also a real concern.
“This is just devastating,” he noted.
Bill Hodous from the Ramsey County Extension Service said conditions for the farmers are wet, wet, wet.
And they aren’t going to get any better this week.
He said he got one report from northeastern Ramsey County of a one-inch deluge last week, and more probably fell on Thursday.
Hodous said for the most part planting is done, but because of the wet conditions in the area, there could be a 15-20 percent prevent plant this season.
“It’s just plain wet,” he added. “Some guys are still doing some planting and they’re still getting stuck in the fields.
“The excess moisture is now leading to salinity issues in the fields.”