Urban Kayakers Take Advantage Of Mpls. Flash Floods
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Even people who don't live near a lake or river saw flooding Saturday.
There were flash floods rushing through places like the Uptown area of Minneapolis.
On many a day, you'll find Bryan Meyer and his friends enjoying the view from his apartment stoop.
"We're known for being the 'stoopers' because we're always out here," Meyer said.
But they suddenly had a waterfront view Saturday afternoon.
"All the sudden the clouds, the sky got dark and it just started downpouring and we were sitting inside and just watching," he said.
But that's when the "stoopers" decided to leave the comfort of their seats.
"Brought the kayak out and went kayaking for a little while," Meyer said.
But it was a quick ride because the water receded quickly.
Meteorologist Jacob Beitlich with the National Weather Service says it was a warm, moist air mast that dumped a lot of rain - but then quickly moved on.
"We have a lot of streets that, the intersections are flooded with water. It's standing, so a lot of problems with basement and street flooding as opposed to main-stem river flooding," Beitlich said.
He says this type of storm won't make the rivers rise higher, but instead will just go down slower. Urban areas tend to take the brunt of these short, intense storms.
They're inconvenient, especially for folks in Loring Park at the Twin Cities Pride Festival, but clearly not intolerable.
After all, Minnesotans aren't going to let a little weather get in the way of their fun.
The National Weather Service says their concern for Sunday will be for an area 65 miles south of the Twin Cities metro.
They say they'll be keeping a close eye on Waterville, and the areas hit very hard last week.