I shot this photo from my living room window late this afternoon of flooded Willow Street.
AROUND 4 P.M., the sky turned black as night here in Faribault. And then the rain let loose. Rain pouring forth so fast that if I was Noah’s wife, I would have urged him to hurry up and finish building that ark.
For some 10 minutes or so, a boat would have been the preferred mode of transportation along the street past my house. The storm sewer couldn’t keep up with the rainwater rolling down the hill onto Willow Street, a main route through town.
Some drivers diverted to the opposite traffic lane to dodge the deepest water. Others splashed through without even slowing down. And yet others paused, tentatively tire-tip-toeing into the water.
Some drivers were cautious, others not so much, as they drove on flooded Willow Street.
Motorists drove through flooded Willow Street without too much concern.
Soon the onslaught of water swept across the roadway into a neighbor’s driveway, down the side of the garage and into the backyard. Next door, rain also surged onto the driveway, then channeled south down the sidewalk to another neighbor’s newly-blacktopped driveway.
The rain flowed across the street into the neighbor's driveway (left), along the garage and into the backyard.
The next two neighbors to have water from the flooded street surge onto their properties.
On my side of the street, at the near bottom of the hill, the curb contained the deluge of water.
It’s been quite a day here—rain, rain and more rain. Open the windows, close the windows. Open. Close. Check the skies. Listen to the weather report. Hang clothes on the clothesline and two minutes later pull them off after spotting heavy, threatening clouds moving in.
Then I checked the National Weather Service website to learn Rice County, my county, is now under a flash flood warning. Yes, it’s been quite a day with rain, rain and more rain.
WHAT’S THE WEATHER like in your area? Submit a comment and tell me.
© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
We have a lake in the field along our driveway. We plan on stocking it with carp tomorrow. Got about 5 inches the past few days. The Minnesota River has been bank-full or out of its banks since early spring. What a soggy year!
That’s a lot of rain in only a few days. But then, again, maybe we’ve gotten that much, too. My husband really needs to find our rain gauge.
Why are you stocking your lake with carp instead of, say, bullheads? 🙂
here in Tyler all we have had is rain. I have 6 holes in my house roof from the last storm. Hope to have them fixed next week.
Rain is really nothing to complain about given the tornado damage you had in Tyler two weeks ago. Were the holes in your roof caused by trees falling onto your house or something else?
Can you give me an update on how recovery is progressing in your southwestern Minnesota community? Any idea how many residents are dealing with property damage or lost trees as a result of the EF-2 tornado?
all of the town was hit. some of the homes will be a total loss. But we
danes are a hardy bunch and will come back.
Gotta love your positive attitude.
Was the Danebod Folk School affected and, if so, will that change summer camp plans there?
Send the rain our way! We had .7 inces last Sunday and nothing for 2 weeks prior. The grass is crunchy in our sandy country.
Should I ship that rain via UPS, Fed-Ex or drop it off the next time we’re driving through Wautoma, Wisconsin?
the camps are a go lots of trees down but the buildings look ok.
Thanks for the report. Good to hear the summer camps are still on and that the buildings are OK.
We too here have been having unusual amounts of rain. We have never experienced this type of humidity and electrical storms at night. Luckily we have been water free in our basement. But many friends have not fared as well.
The heat and humidity have taken hold in Minnesota. So we turned on the air today.
As far as wet basements, many folks have had wet basement this year.
Interesting to hear that you’re also having lost of rain in Canada. At least it’s not snow, huh?