The town of Delano, west of the Twin Cities, dodged a deluge Friday night after city crews managed to break up a huge ice jam passing through town on the south fork of the Crow River.
The ice jam's arrival at Bridge Avenue Friday evening causing the river to rise to major flood stage and prompting the National Weather Service to declare a flash flood warning for south central Wright County until 1:15 a.m. Saturday.
The main threat was to Delano, a city of about 7,600.
Later Friday night, city crews using an excavator succeeded in removing part of the ice and debris jam, and river levels were slowly decreasing after having begun lapping at the bottom of the bridge, officials reported.
The Crow River is a tributary of the Mississippi that splits into two forks northwest of the metro area.
STAFF REPORT
