Twin Cities Assessing Flood Damage, Bracing For More
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- From St. Louis Park to St. Paul -- sandbags to mudslides-- evidence of flooding is all over the metro.
"The people who've been here years and years never seen it this bad," one St. Louis Park resident said.
Some of the worst damage is near the University of Minnesota Medical Center, where a major mudslide happened on the Mississippi River bank during Thursday night's storm.
"We heard the sirens, I think, first, before anything," said Carolyn Wilson, the president of the hospital.
While no one was hurt in the mudslide, the hospital had to move its oxygen tanks, which were near the site.
Now geologists and structural engineers are testing the bedrock beneath the hospital to make sure it's deep enough to sustain any more rain.
"Our oxygen tanks are safe and patients are being cared for," Wilson said, "and we're assessing further damage."
As St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman declared a state of emergency in his city, a temporary flood wall was put in place at St. Paul Downtown Airport.It's the first time they've built one in three years.
But no matter where you live in the metro, a pause in the rainfall can't come soon enough.
"That's what I'm hoping," said Tharcisse Mulfinger, of St. Louis Park. "It will come to an end."
The threat of flooding continues as more metro area rivers are expected to hit major flood stage in the coming days.
Just downriver in St. Paul, the Mississippi is expected to top 20 feet by next week. That's 6 feet above flood stage, and 6 feet below the record.