SAINT LOUIS PARK, Minn - Homeowners who live near Meadowbrook Lake in St. Louis Park are sandbagging, especially with more rain on the way.
The city of St. Louis Park closed down several streets and brought sandbagging supplies to several homeowners Thursday morning.
Andy Gray was woken up by flashing lights and the fire chief at his door, on Meadowbrook Boulevard. The rising Minnehaha Creek spills into Meadowbrook Lake, just across the street from him.
"A couple city workers came and knocked on my door and said I should probably think about sandbagging, so the city came and dropped off the sand and the bags and the cones to fill all this stuff. I called my dad, and been at it for a couple hours now," said Gray.
Down the street, Caprice Bart was also sandbagging with the help of neighbors and area boy scouts. Her home faces the largest threat. With wetlands in her backyard, water crept up her driveway. She stood helping in her scuba diving gear, the only outfit she could find to keep her warm and dry.
"It's so stressful. It's really hard. Super nerve wracking. And I'm just trying to kind of - I don't know - hope for the best. It's water. What can you do? It's water and it's creeping up and you can't do anything," said Bart.
At Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital workers stacked 3,500 sandbags filled yesterday. Crews pumped water back into the creek.
Also, neighbors in the Creekside neighborhood also rushed to save the area bee colony, operated by Joe Wiersma, 93, who needed help moving his bees to higher ground.
"Never happened to me before," he said.
Wiersma said in his 35 years at his home, the water has never been this high. Today, his bees were partially underwater. Several of the young bees, in larvae stage, drowned. He was able to save the majority of the 50,000-60,000 bees in his colony, but the impact won't be known for some time.
A St. Louis Park city spokesman says several areas of town are impacted by rising water near Minnehaha Creek and other areas of the city. The following streets are currently closed or restricted:
- · Louisiana Avenue, closed between Highway 7 & Louisiana Circle
- · Louisiana Avenue, closed north of Walker Street
- · Limited access on Excelsior Boulevard west of highway 100
- · Limited access on Highway 7 west of Highway 100
Safety officials ask that residents avoid these areas and do not enter flooded streets. There have already been several reports regarding vehicles stuck in flooded streets.
Rain is expected to continue today in at least two more waves (mid-afternoon and overnight) and St. Louis Park city officials are seeking volunteers to help sandbag throughout the community later Thursday afternoon and evening. Those available to help are being asked to call (952) 562-2875.
