Locals are drawn under the viaduct Thursday evening during yet another flood in our community caused by excessive rainfall. Here the Straight River runs over its banks. A flood warning continues until 5 a.m. Friday.
THE SCENES ARE ALL TOO FAMILIAR.
The dam no longer visible.
Sandbags stacked outside the Faribault Woolen Mill.
Second Avenue between the Faribault Woolen Mill and Faribault Foods.
Police tape.
Several blocks of Second Avenue from Faribault Foods (left), past the Woolen Mill (right) to Caseys General Store were closed. The street runs past the Cannon River.
Roads barricaded.
The bridge entry to Teepee Tonka Park, now flooded by the Straight River.
And locals gathered by the dozens to document the scenes, to see how the mighty Cannon and Straight Rivers have once again overflowed their banks.
A Twin Cities TV crew comes, too, pulled by the current of a news story.
Locals head across the Faribault Woolen Mill parking lot toward the rising Cannon River.
While the gawkers gawk, the sun draws a slim line of gold between grey clouds and glassy water.
Police and firefighters watch the river watchers.
Blocks away the Straight River churns muddy brown, raging under the bridge near the wastewater treatment plant.
Truckers haul dirt to construct a make-shift temporary berm protecting this city infrastructure.
As in past floods, the city has had to deal with sewer issues. This scene is by South Alexander Park.
Memories of the September 2010 and June 2014 floods linger.
A flooded street by Heritage Park near the Straight River close to downtown.
I’ve walked these roads, these sidewalks, these parking lots, this grass before, documenting the flooding.
In the midst of the flooding, beauty is reflected, here on the Cannon River near the Faribault Woolen Mill.
Still the scenes pull me here, into the quiet of an autumn night for the third flood in seven years.
© Copyright 2016 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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