Flood — Mower, Minnesota

2004-09-15 to 2004-09-17 · Mower, Minnesota

Wider weather episode

After a relatively dry start to the month, a potent late summer storm system brought very heavy rain to parts of southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa on September14 and September15. Rain was most intense from near Mason City, Iowa through the Austin area (Mower County) to near Rochester (Olmsted County). There were many areas that had over 4 inches of rain, with isolated higher amounts. In fact, the highest unofficial totals were in the Blooming Prairie area (Dodge County) with 11.50 inches and 13.00 inches reported.Flash flooding was the initial problem, but as all the rain drained into river basins, many of the regional rivers and creeks saw dramatic rises during the overnight hours of September 14 and into the morning of September 15. The Austin area saw very high to record crest levels on the Cedar River and creeks leading into it. For example, Turtle Creek at Austin had a record setting crest of 14.77 feet, while a record setting crest of 23.44 feet was established on the Cedar River at Lansing (Mower County). Other rivers affected included the Zumbro and Root, however flooding was not near as significant in these locations. Mower, Dodge and Olmsted counties were declared federal disaster areas. Hardest hit was the Austin area, where flooding affected parts of the city and widespread sand bagging efforts took place. There were 350 homes in Mower County, which received flood damage, including 300 homes in Austin alone. A 20 year old man died on his way to work, when he walked into high water and was swept away. A 53 year old man also died of a heart attack, while assisting with sand bagging efforts.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5423969. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.