With The Minnesota River On the Verge Of Cresting, Carver Braces For More Rain
CARVER, Minn. (WCCO) – Minnesotans from all across the metro came to Carver. Minn. Wednesday to help fill up more sandbags.
The Minnesota River that runs along the community is expected to crest Wednesday.
But more rain in the forecast has people preparing for the worst.
The downtown flooded badly back in 1965.
Residents are hoping this won't be as bad, with sandbags creating a levee, but the levee needs more work to be safe.
Adults and children volunteers helped fill sandbags Wednesday at Lions Park to be brought down the road to the levee.
In all, Carver has 54,000 pounds of sand.
The city also has to deal with rains and water from the southwestern and western parts of state draining into the Minnesota River.
City leaders say their earthen levee from the 1960s is outdated, but they're hopeful the downtown streets and people's homes can escape flooding.
"We are aware that the rains are coming. We're at capacity right now with what our levee is holding back," Carver city council member Mike Webb said.
"First off all I don't want the city to flood, cause that would be bad for all the parents and children because then they wouldn't be able to go to all the parks and stuff," Taylor Bjorkland, from Edina, said.
The city council and mayor said to build a new levee would costs more than $15 million and require removal of some historic downtown buildings to meet Army Corps of Engineers standards.
City leaders said that'll have to come from federal help if it's going to happen.
Emergency Management said they hope to have an exact dollar amount of the damage they city has sustained due to flooding Wednesday. They do expect to far surpass the county threshold to qualify for federal assistance, which is $318,000.
In fact, city council member Webb said he thinks just the city of Carver along will surpass that amount.
