Flash flood rips through Ely

Heavy overnight rain followed by another surge in the morning led to flooding Wednesday morning in Ely.

By midafternoon the waters had begun to recede.

According to the National Weather Service, some roads in Ely were covered with nearly a foot of water. The service issued a flood advisory in the morning, then upgraded it to a flash flood warning for the immediate area at mid-morning.

Ely Mayor Heidi Omerza said rain in “epic proportions” fell on the city. Ely hadn’t yet assessed the damage, focusing Wednesday evening on public safety.

“If there is a flooded road, stay off of it,” she said.

Tenille Flegel took advantage of water that was well over her ankles Wednesday morning to grab a canoe from Piragis Northwoods Co., where she works as an outfitter, and paddle past a Cenex Station on Sheridan Street.

“The rain was coming down like nobody’s business,” said Flegel, whose husband, Trent, took the good-humored photo that was quickly passed around on social media.

Andy Krunkkala, who was working at KJ’s True Value in Ely on Wednesday evening, said the store sold an unusually high number of shop vacuums and sump pumps throughout the day.

Roadways were blocked temporarily so that cars didn’t drive through and cause a wake of water to further damage two homes in areas flooded on Eighth Avenue East between Chapman and Harvey, and on Pattison Street at Second Avenue East, according to city clerk Harold Langowski.

“The combination of saturated ground due to the rain the previous night and the reports of up to 3 inches of rain in about 35 minutes caused the storm sewers to be at capacity and the sanitary sewer system to be filled by storm water as well,” he said in an email.

A major event for the city, the Blueberry Arts Festival, is scheduled for Friday through Sunday. City officials said Thursday that the event will go on.