Stillwater businesses start to see flooding as St. Croix River rises faster than expected
STILLWATER, Minn. -- More precipitation is the last thing some riverside communities need right now as water levels continue to rise. The St. Croix River at Stillwater reached flood stage Saturday and is expected to rise another four feet or more, cresting in major flood stage by midweek.
"The river is moving really fast. Logs are shooting down the river every hour, it's pretty intense," the Dock Café manager Daniel Cornforth said.
With water already reaching their lower patio, the Dock Café will soon be closing all their patios in anticipation of water rising.
"We'll have to clear off this whole patio and get it all set. We just lost half of our parking lot for emergency diking so yeah, it's crazy," Cornforth said.
Some businesses have started to see water in their basements. On the water's edge, pumps are working hard as a large sandbag levee protects downtown.
"It went up almost three feet yesterday, which is probably the fastest I've seen the river go up in my lifetime," Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski said.
Mayor Kozlowski thinks the water will rise close to the top of the levee.
"It is designed so we can peel the poly we see here and we can add more sand to it and we can build it up another few feet if we need to, it's a pretty substantial effort though," he said.
The majority of homes in Stillwater are on higher ground, but Kozlowski worries about communities to the south.
"There's a lot of homeowners in Bayport, Afton, and Lakeland and everywhere in between that we could see some significant damage down there depending on how high the river goes, I'm certainly worried about our friends down there," he said.
The city says businesses are still open. If you visit Stillwater in the next few weeks, just be aware of trail, road and parking lot closures.
