Add 22 Minneapolis homes and 10 other city properties, including a school and a church, to the list of properties at risk of flooding this spring.
The city began distributing information to property owners Tuesday morning about how to obtain some of the 53,000 filled sandbags it has on hand. A web site with flood information has been launched at: tinyurl.com/6la4t24
Among the properties at risk are Burroughs school and Mt. Olivet church, two lower-lying properties along Minnehaha Creek. The residential properties are scattered along that creek, plus Bassett and Shingle creeks.
Some businesses along the Mississippi River, including Graco and the former Scherer Bros. lumber yard, also are at risk. A good share of Hiawatha Golf Course may also be flooded. The flood projections come from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
City officials said that pallets of sandbags and plastic sheeting will be delivered to threatened homes once the owner signs a waiver. Sand, empty bags and sheeting also will be delivered to non-residential properties.
Creeks crests are expected to arrive before the river crest. Flood problems likely would be worse had the Park Board not developed parkland in areas, such as Boom Island and North Mississippi Regional Park, that flooded in 1952 and 1965.
Water Treatment Director Bernie Bullert said that the city's riverside water treatment plant in Fridley should escape damage, thanks to extensions to flood walls there and dewatering pumps. The city draws water form the river for itself and surrounding communities. Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438
