Flash Flood — Houston, Minnesota

2013-06-22 to 2013-06-23 · near Houston, Houston, Minnesota

Event narrative

Very heavy rain caused widespread flash flooding across a good portion of Houston County. Roads around the town of Houston became covered with water and impassable. Rapidly rising water along Riceford Creek caused a campground to be evacuated. A mudslide occurred just outside of Spring Grove. Numerous other roads around the county sustained damage, including County Highway 27 which had a complete section washed out. State Highway 16 east of Houston, State Highway 76 between Caledonia and Houston and County Highway 43 along with numerous other county roads were closed along with at least 20 township roads. In the western part of the county, one vehicle was swept off a road and the driver had to be rescued and at least three campers and a 73 foot mobile home were washed down Crystal Creek. In Hokah, the Root River rise high enough to top the levee requiring a local auto dealership to move about 60 cars to save them from the water. The flooding washed away a gravel road and two walking bridges at Camp Winnebago near Caledonia.

Wider weather episode

Several rounds of thunderstorms with very heavy rain rolled across southeast Minnesota during the late afternoon and evening of June 22nd. The heavy rain produced widespread flash flooding across much of Houston County into the eastern sections of Fillmore County. Numerous roads were washed out or covered with water which caused extensive damage, requiring the roads to be closed. The rapid rise of water on Riceford Creek northwest of Spring Grove (Houston County) forced the evacuation of a campground while a family was stranded in Choice (Fillmore County) as the South Fork of the Root River rose out of its banks. A campground near Caledonia (Houston County) that serves adults with disabilities lost a gravel road and two walking bridges and had to close a low portion of the campground for an extended period of time. The states largest fish hatchery near Lanesboro (Fillmore County) was hit hard by the flooding. The ponds of water that separated the fish by species were inundated by flood waters allowing the different species of fish to freely swim together. Some fish were killed while others were left flailing in muddy pools of water. Workers spent numerous hours scooping up and sorting the fish that survived. The Governor of Minnesota declared a state of emergency for Houston, Fillmore and Winona Counties. FEMA declared a federal disaster area for the following counties: Houston and Fillmore.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.7700, -91.5700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 457691. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.