Hastings officials prepare for major flood stage next week
HASTINGS, Minn. -- Hastings, south of the Twin Cities, is one of the towns that's preparing for flooding this spring. Friday morning, Gov. Tim Walz joined state and local lawmakers to get an update on flood preparations.
Standing along the Mississippi River, Walz talked about the rising rivers.
"We are going to have some pretty severe flooding in different parts of Minnesota-more than likely," said Walz. "Hope is not a plan. Our plan is to be prepared."
Hastings has been down this road before. A marker by the river shows which years of flooding hit hardest.
"Some of the worst flooding on our trail system is right behind the pavilion," said Jen Fox, acting mayor.
City leaders said they are not concerned about downtown Hastings, because it's elevated. But they are worried about a number of homes along the river, especially on the east side of town. The Vermillion River could also become a factor.
As of Friday, city leaders were expecting the Mississippi to crest at 18.5 feet on April 20, but that could easily change.
Hastings has 25,000 sandbags ready to go, but people living near the river are hoping it doesn't come to that.
"I'm not too worried about it since there isn't a whole lot of snow left. But I know it's supposed to snow this weekend so, who knows," said William Patton, Hastings resident.
"We are preparing for this, it's spring, we understand water in Minnesota. The biggest thing is we need to keep people safe. We need to protect personal and public property," said Walz.
Walz urged people not to drive around "road closed" signs when flooding begins.
The governor is expected to approve $40 million to replenish the state's Disaster Assistance Contingency Account, which allows the state to use its own funds to help with disasters if Minnesota doesn't reach a threshold for a federal disaster declaration.
Walz did say that the National Guard could potentially be called upon to help towns in northern Minnesota, particularly Oslo, where military vehicles could be needed to evacuate people if the Red River gets too high.