Heavy rains early Saturday flooded metro area streets, forced the evacuation of houses near Northfield and knocked out power to thousands of Twin Cities homes.
It was a bit of déjà vu after the late June storm that knocked out power for days and uprooted trees across the metro. But instead of high winds, an early morning storm Saturday dished out as much as 4 inches of rain in the metro and 8 inches of rain in the southern part of the state.
"That is extraordinary," said Chris Franks, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Chanhassen. "That's not something that happens every summer.
"If we would have thrown that over the heart of the metro, it could have been really bad," Franks said, adding that all the pavement in the metro couldn't absorb that much rain. "We would have been floating cars all over the place."
In Rice County, up to 8 inches of rain left three county roads and four township roads damaged, Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn said. Rushing water also severed a gas line, washed out railroad tracks and flooded three homes in Dundas. Rescue crews evacuated residents by boat, but no one was injured.
"We haven't had a washout this bad in a long time," he said.
"The bull's-eye was right here in Rice County," said Dundas resident Anthony Sommers, who didn't have any damage to his home. "It's the worst I've ever seen."
About 3 miles away in Northfield, the Cannon River rose 7 feet within 12 hours — and was still rising Saturday afternoon, according to the Weather Service. The Froggy Bottoms River Pub filled sandbags to divert the water.
