Flash Flood — Fillmore, Minnesota

2013-06-23 · near Fillmore, Fillmore, Minnesota

Event narrative

Heavy rain produced widespread flash flooding across the eastern half of Fillmore County. Mahoney Creek north of Lanesboro quickly came out of its banks sending water over State Highway 250. The South Branch of the Root River also rose rapidly causing a campground in Lanesboro to be evacuated and destroyed about a dozen RV's. Rescues were needed east of Whalan as numerous small creeks in the area flooded. Bridges were washed out on County Highway 23 and State Highway 43 near Choice, where a family was also stranded by flood water. The state fish hatchery near Lanesboro was inundated by flood waters which killed several fish and allowed the different species of trout to swim together. Workers spent many hours repairing the tubs used to store the fish in along with scooping up and sorting the fish the survived.

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 → (43.7461, -92.2092)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 457726. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.