Montevideo city officials have already begun preparing for spring floods in the wake of a report last week from the National Weather Service.
“We were sitting down next week to do a table exercise,” said Montevideo City Manager Steve Jones Tuesday morning. “Now it looks like we’ll do an actual planning event for staff. We’ll make sure we’re prepared and have the materials on hand that we’ll need.”
Representatives of the city, Chippewa County emergency management, the NWS, and Minnesota Army National Guard will meet Feb. 11 at City Hall.
Even if the area experiences a gradual snowmelt without any major rain events, the NWS predicts an approximate 90 percent chance for Montevideo to hit minor flood stage of 14 feet and a 20 percent chance to hit major flood stage of 18 feet. The NWS says streams have three to four times the water they usually carry this time of year.
According to the NWS, there is a 50-50 chance of the river reaching 16 feet, Jones noted. There is a 5 percent probability of exceeding the major flood level experienced in Montevideo in 2001 when the Minnesota River crested at 19.2 feet.
City officials are planning on at least an 18-foot flood, but expect water levels to exceed that mark.
“We will have contingency plans if the river goes to 20 or 21 feet,” said Jones. “If it hits 20 feet we will have to shore up the levee, and we will need assistance.”
He noted that some businesses and homes will be affected in Smith Addition if the river goes much above 18 feet. “They will be inconvenienced through loss of utilities, and there will be some chance of them being flooded,” said Jones.
Last spring, flood waters reached 18.3 feet here — the fifth highest on record — but the impact was much less than in previous years. Much of the reason is directly attributable to actions taken following the 1997 and 2001 floods, according to Jones.
“If it hadn’t been for what we’d done in the previous 10 years, there would have been much more of a problem,” said Jones. “There was about $50,000 in damage, but that was much less than it would have been.”
Had the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers been able to complete the reconstruction of the levee system three years ago as originally planned, there would be no problem.
Phase 1, the rebuilding of the levee around the Canton Avenue area and bridge, was completed last fall. Phase 2, the reconstruction and raising of Highway 212 from the intersection of Highway 7/212 east to Flinn’s Salvage, will begin this year. Phase 3, involving the rebuild of the remaining levee system, will complete the project in 2011.
