Flood in Renville County, Minnesota

Flood waters slowly receded from excessive rainfall that occurred Tuesday morning. Numerous roads were impacted by the flood waters, especially south of Highway 212. An individual was found in a water-swollen drainage ditch, two days after his car was discovered submerged a mile upstream.

During the overnight hours of Tuesday, July 3rd, a persistent line of storms, with rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour, moved very little from Marshall to Redwood Falls, Olivia, then southward to Tracy, Lamberton, and Springfield, Minnesota. The heaviest rainfall held over the Redwood, and Cottonwood river basin for several hours. Several of the flash flooding parameters, including flash flood guidance, and return period for a 6 hour rainfall event, were extreme. The suggested return period for such an event in six hours was well over 200 years.

Over 50 township and country roads were affected by the flood waters. Due to the numerous county roads and bridges that were impassable, the national guard was called in to help those who were isolated due to flood waters.

By the time the rainfall tapered off Tuesday morning, rainfall amounts ranged from a measured high of 10.50 inches near Wabasso, to several measured amounts of 5 to 9 inches from Belview and Delhi, south and southwest to Redwood Falls, Lucan, to around Walnut Grove, and Lamberton.

In addition to the flash flooding that inundated the area, the heavy rains that fell on July 3 caused major flooding on rivers in southwest Minnesota. The Cottonwood River at New Ulm had its second highest crest of record, with 19.64 feet on July 6th. The record crest there is 20.86 feet set on April 8, 1965. The Redwood River at Marshall set a record crest of 17.41 feet on July 3, breaking the old record of 17.09 feet from September 25, 2010. There was extensive flooding in Redwood county with basements flooding and water closing roads. Tracy, Lamberton and Springfield were some of the hardest hit towns due to road closures and detours from flooded farmland.

Another unfortunate cause from the flooding was an apparent drowning. An individual's car was found completely underwater in a ditch in Hector Township. The vehicle was unoccupied when it was pulled from the water. The body from the vehicle was found two days later in a ditch upstream from the location of the car.

Governor Dayton declared an emergency for several counties hit by this storm, and storms from the previous month including; Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Freeborn, Martin, Mille Lacs, Nicollet, Redwood, Renville, Sibley, Stearns, Stevens, Waseca and Watonwan counties.