WABASHA, Minn. — Many rivers around Minnesota are at the highest they’ve been in some time. The Mississippi River in Wabasha crested Tuesday night around 18’.
The flood waters have engulfed baseball fields, main roads, and even restaurants – including the popular Slippery’s Bar and Grill. The decades-old hot spot sits right on the river and has several feet of water inside it.
But two weeks earlier, to protect it from the flooding, the Wabasha Fire Department filled the restaurant with 10,000 gallons of clean water – on purpose.
“The thinking process on that was let’s fill it with clean water, we don’t get the dirty seeping in,” said Wabasha Fire Chief Darren Sheeley. “If you don’t fill the basement, the force of the walls on the outside will collapse that building in.”
Chief Sheeley says the tactic not only minimizes the muddy water, but it also offsets any pressure put on the structure.
“If we neutralize the outside with the inside, the walls don’t have any pressure and when the water goes down, the clean water goes down and gets pumped out and you have a clean basement or clean restaurant,” said Chief Sheeley.
The last time they used this tactic was about 12 years ago. Even homeowners will deploy it as well. Chief Sheeley says there are about 40 homes flooded this time around, some of which won’t be salvageable. Meanwhile, everyone is looking forward to drier days.
“The flood is one thing, but sometimes the clean-up is a lot more,” said Chief Sheeley, who says despite the recent crest, it could take weeks before all the water subsides.
He’s hopeful restaurants, like Slippery’s, and local parks and campgrounds, will be able to reopen before the busy Memorial Day.
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