UPDATED! Windom Update and a Video shows Minnesota dam on on verge of failure as residents remain on high alert. Sen. Klobuchar, Rep. Finstad joins Mayor Massad in Mankato to discuss area flooding

UPDATED! Windom Update and a Video shows Minnesota dam on on verge of failure as residents remain on high alert. Sen. Klobuchar, Rep. Finstad joins Mayor Massad in Mankato to discuss area flooding

Hilary Mathis

Update at 2:43 pm Monday June 24th. 

 

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Updated at 2:15pm Monday June 24th

From Windom, Minnesota:

Friends-

Here’s the deal.

**We are out of sandbags. Emergency management has a call in for 15,000 Bags from the Army Corp of Engineers. We do not know if it when they will come, but Paul will call me and I will post when it’s go time to fill bags again.

**There are currently NO EVACUATION ORDERS. If you are a homeowner that wants to leave your house, do so. NOTHING OFFICIAL HAS BEEN RELEASED TO EVACUATE.

**TO OUR KNOWLEDGE (every “official” official I have talked to in the last half hour) NO LOCAL LEVEES OR DAMNS HAVE BROKEN.

**NEXT PLAN- our local Fire Department will go door to door in areas of town recommending they get their most valuable items in their car and BE PREPARED to evacuate. IF volunteers are willing, we will follow the fire department and help those who need it move things to cars.

**IF you are a volunteer, you should-

Eat. Cool off. Eat. Take care of yourself, and be ready for the next go time.

If you are a homeowner who needs help with moving only small things as if you were going to evacuate, please go to our flooding group (links in my profile) that is the only post I will monitor for the foreseeable future. Until the next post.

Thank you all- seriously love you, even if I don’t know you.This has been an AMAZING crew- every day since Friday. Thank you

Cottonwood County Emergency Management

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1:00 PM Flood Update.

We have broken the record crest of 1969. River level recorded currently is 24.77 feet. The expected crest is Wednesday at 26 feet. This is a very dynamic situation and information is changing often.

If you live along the river, we would suggest packing your car with your most valuable belongings and be ready to evacuate. I’m not wanting to alarm people, but the forecast is for the river to rise another 1.23 feet.

The city is sandbagging the electric plant out of an abundance of caution. We don’t believe the water is going to reach it; however there is a potential.

I’ve attached a home evacuation information sheet for reference and preparation to this post. I want to stress evacuations are NOT imminent; however it is good to prepare to go quickly if needed.

EMERGENCY IN WINDOM, MINNESOTA! Urgent help to fill sandbags at the Windom Arena

So much to pray about……..My sister Deb in Reading, Minnesota looks out the window of her house and sees her farmland full of water. My brother Dave and his wife Denise live in my hometown of Windom, Minnesota and they have had to buy another sump pump to try and keep up with the incoming water into their basement. I see many pictures of the flooding in Windom on Facebook, along with photos from surrounding communities and in South Dakota and Iowa. We have been praying that the water starts to recede. Denise told me that the water has gone down in their basement some. By the way today is Denise’s birthday!  The Windom community, like all over Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota come together to fill sandbags and help in many other ways! TRUE AMERICANS! Amen!

We just got this update on the NM Wildfires: Southwest Area Incident Management Team Update on South Fork and Salt Fires

Two people here in New Mexico have died in the fires. More Here

The flood in Windom may be even worse that the 1969 flood.

Millions of Americans sweated through a scorching weekend as temperatures soared across the U.S., while residents were rescued from floodwaters that forced evacuations across the Midwest. One person was killed during flooding in South Dakota, the governor said.

The National Weather Service said the worst of the heat wave would shift from the mid-Atlantic to portions of the southeast and southern Plains by Monday, brining welcome relief for major cities from Washington D.C. to Boston — but it may be short-lived. More Here

Please pray with us for all that are suffering flood damage. Thank the Lord for all the workers who are filling sandbags, sharing sump pumps with others, and the First Responders who have been rescuing people from flooded homes across the region.

You are blessed if you have a dry home. It may seem like a simple thing to live in a dry home, but it is not.

My June 23rd Report:

Heavenly Father, as we try to comprehend the destruction that flooding causes to people’s lives, our hearts grieve. We ask for you to be with all who have suffered loss in floods. For those who have damaged  homes, we pray for shelter and community. We thank you Lord for the people that are helping those in need at this time. We thank you for looking after all those that are working so hard to help others. Father, we pray that the waters will recede today, we pray for your Will to be done in all of our lives, in the loving and mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Last night I got a text from my sister-in-law Denise that they are having to leave their home in my hometown of Windom, Minnesota. Her and Dave live in the house that me, Dave, Deb and Daryl grew up in. The basement is full of water, almost up into the first floor. The water heater is floating in the basement. My bedroom was downstairs. My sister Deb who lost her husband Paul, just over a year ago, says her basement is full of water. Deb lives in Reading, Minn. It looks like all the crops have been destroyed on her farm and all over the area. Devastating!

In 1969 we had the flood of floods in Windom, I am told by my friend Dave Field, former Windom newspaper reporter that this flood may pass the devastation of 1969. That year we had to move out of our house for about 2 weeks. Our water well at the house was no longer any good. We had to get hooked up to city water at that time. My dad, assistant Fire Chief, and all the fireman were so very bust during that time sandbagging and pumping water out of basements. I will always remember that little Civil Defense pumper pulled by a fire truck that pupped a lot of water out of basements.

Sharon and I weep at the devastation not only Windom. We thank the Lord for all the people coming together to help each other during this time. You gotta love how people pull together to help each other! Glory! StarTribune Report on Minnesota Flooding

Peacetime Emergency declared due to flooding, National Guard to help