ST PAUL, Minn. — The Mississippi River at St. Paul has finally hit major flood stage.
"Ready for some kayaking," said Mark Dungey as he looked at the flooding at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul.
Michael Lindemann had to take a detour walking at the park.
"Never seen it come up this fast," said Lindemann. "All completely submerged."
Robert Heffner is now wondering how much higher it will get.
"Water is pretty high," said Heffner.
Right now the river is above 17 feet and already having an impact. Last Wednesday, crews at the St. Paul Pool and Yacht Club
were prepping for flooding.
Today the club was inaccessible.
The river is expected to rise another three feet.
"The next week will tell us when that crest will occur," said St. Paul Emergency Management Director Rick Schute.
He is comparing this year to the floods back in 2014.
Schute is reminding people about the street closures at Shepherd and Warner streets downtown. He's also asking people to obey
those high water signs.
With those road closures, crews have been able to start prepping a temporary flood wall in downtown St. Paul. That levee is expected to be completed by Tuesday.
That said, Schute is also optimistic.
"We've had ideal melting conditions with nice sunshine today and the cooling off and refreezing at night, which really pumps the breaks," said Schute.
We'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.
"Who knows what long-term impacts this will have if this keeps up," said Lindemann.