By Mark Fischenich
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO —
The flooded Minnesota River was rising a bit faster than expected in New Ulm Friday, is cresting or approaching its crest in most other area cities today, and has begun to drop in St. Peter, according to National Weather Service measurements and forecasts.
The rising river wasn’t threatening homes in any area cities but it was forcing road closings — including a northbound lane of Highway 169, a portion of Highway 99 and the Judson Bottom Road in North Mankato.
In Mankato, the slowing of the river’s rise was clear. The Minnesota River climbed more than four feet on Wednesday, the day it topped the official flood stage of 22 feet, finishing the day at 23.6 feet.
On Thursday, it climbed less than a foot to 24.4 feet. The following 24 hours saw just a half-foot of growth in the river’s depth, reaching 24.9 feet late Friday afternoon.
It’s projected to crest at 25.2 feet in Mankato this morning and fall back below 22 feet a week from today. The high-water mark for the Minnesota in Mankato was 30.1 feet on June 21, 1993, which is still well below the top of the flood walls.
But even the current level was enough to close parts of riverside parks such as Sibley and Land of Memories, along with the Judson Bottom Road on the North Mankato side of the river.
In St. Peter, the river reached 26.82 feet Thursday afternoon, falling a bit to 26.2 feet by Friday afternoon. The Highway 99 bridge just east of St. Peter was closed at 1 p.m., forcing detours to Le Sueur County 21 and Highway 22.
Construction of a dike on Highway 169 has closed one of the northbound lanes for two miles just north of St. Peter.
The Minnesota is still rising in Henderson — 4.6 feet above flood stage Friday night — and is expected to rise another foot by Sunday afternoon. The river is projected to stay at least four feet above flood stage through Wednesday morning in the Sibley County city, which has lost access to the east with the closing of Highway 19 and to the south with the flooding of Highway 93.
In New Ulm, the river rose slightly higher than projected Friday, reaching 802.8 feet above sea level by 5 p.m. Flood stage there is 796 feet. The river was projected to crest at 803.1 feet today. That’s a bit higher than the 802.9-foot crest predicted before Friday, and the river is projected to stay above 802 feet through the end of next week.
The Cottonwood River in New Ulm, which rose nearly four feet since Tuesday and reached 15.4 feet by Friday night, is expected to begin dropping today and fall below the flood stage of 11 feet by Thursday.
