Flood update

The latest news I can get out of Zumbro Falls: there's been no injuries or loss of life and the housepets have been rescued. The town is still evacuated; electricity has been restored for the crews there, but water and sewage will be more than a week.

Crews have gone in to assess damage and 60 of the 90 houses are structurally unsound. There had only been 15 minutes of notice before the evacuation, so most people have lost everything. It will be long enough before people are allowed back that mold will be a problem.

Downstream, Hammond is about as bad; there were worries that, as most of Hammond uses propane for heating that there'd be fires, but that hasn't happened. Further downstream, Millville is on higher ground and missed the brunt of the damage. No reports from the village of Theilman (pronounced "Theelman", not "Tileman"), which is near where the Zumbro 100 Mile race is held, but it's probably very bad.

It's too early for volunteers. It's not going to be a matter of throwing out carpets and spraying the basement walls with bleach. It looks like it'll take at least a year.

Perhaps the Zumbro 100 should become a fundraising event next year.

Best photos so far are here. The photos were not taken at crest. The crest was 6 feet above the previous record, making this something like a once in 500 year flood.