Flash Flood in Olmsted County, Minnesota

Numerous streets were flooded. Sand bagging was needed with some street closures. Several nearby bridges were badly damaged and railroad tracks were bent out of place. Highway 14 was closed at Highway 42 due to flooding and residents of the Eyota trailer park were evacuated.

In Eyota specifically, 16 of 20 business had damage, 600 of 716 homes had at least water damage, and in most basements there was 18 inches to 5 feet of water.

A warm front lifting northward into Iowa triggered round after round of thunderstorms with excessive rainfall across southeast Minnesota during the evening and overnight hours of August 18-19. This was after rain had fallen earlier in the day. Total rainfall amounts of 10 to 15 inches were common, which produced widespread and significant flash flooding. An official rainfall total of 15.1 inches near Hokah (Houston County) established an all-time 24 hour rainfall record for the state of Minnesota. Other rainfall totals, which were unofficial readings, included 17.00 and 14.00 inches respectively in Witoka and Utica (Winona County). Numerous roads and bridges were washed out, houses collapsed due to mudslides and hundreds of homes had flooded basements. Law enforcement and fire department officials reported rescuing people from their vehicles, as well as from house tops. There were seven fatalities reported, five in Winona County and two in Houston County. Damage attributed to the heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding was estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Fillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties were declared federal disaster areas.