NORMAN COUNTY, MINN. (KFGO) – Norman County Emergency Manager Garry Johanson says fields near Ada, Minnesota have turned into big lakes as the Wild Rice River spilled out of its banks.
Johanson says because of the melt, the water has come up rapidly and with the combination of ice jams, the river has spilled out of its banks and caused overland flooding onto fields. Johanson says, “It looks like a lot of newly formed lakes south of Ada right now.”
The overland flooding closed a section of a highway south of Ada Wednesday morning.
Ada and neighboring farmsteads have not been threatened by the flooding. However, Johanson says as a precaution, the County Highway Department will deliver sand for sandbags to Shelly, Halstad, Hendrum, and Perley, towns further west, where the Wild Rice River flows into the Red River.
He says there is uncertainty about the river levels because of a late winter storm expected Thursday and Friday that may bring enough additional moisture to impact river crests. He adds that a warm-up next week will cause further melting and that may cause a second surge of the river.
