'We couldn't keep up'
Stalled vehicles the norm as storm hammers area
Severe thunderstorms rolled across central Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon, dropping heavy rain and packing strong winds and hail.
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The thunderstorm, which passed over the Brainerd area in a couple of bands, dropped 4.95 inches of rain in Brainerd and Baxter, flooding numerous streets and making them impassable.
A pickup traveled westbound on Washington Street in Brainerd during Tuesday's thunderstorm. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
The water on the streets was deep enough to create waves - or cause vehicles to stall.
"Basically I'm sitting in a mud puddle on Mill Avenue because someone stalled out," Crow Wing County Sheriff's Sgt. Andy Bradley said when reached after the worst of the storm rolled through at about 6:30 p.m.
There were too many vehicles stalled in flooded streets in Brainerd to count, Bradley said.
"There was one every 10 minutes. People need to realize that when the water is more than an inch deep you've got to slow down," he said.
One of the main corridors through Brainerd - Washington Street - flooded in several places, including near the Mississippi River bridge and at the North Eighth Street intersection. Slow-moving sports utility vehicles drove along Washington Street spraying water above vehicle rooftops and creating waves that lapped over adjoining sidewalks. Other city streets were flooded for blocks. In Baxter, Excelsior Road near the Paul Bunyan Trail overpass was blocked off due to flooding.
A motorist traveled northbound on Southwest Fourth Street during Tuesday's thunderstorm in Brainerd. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Brainerd Police Sgt. Becky Putzke said any road with a low elevation was flooded with several inches of water. Manhole covers in northeast Brainerd were forced by flooded storm water pipes up onto the streets.
Like Bradley, Putzke spent her time during the storm responding to vehicles stalled in water along streets.
"It was a mess. There were tons of vehicles flooded out," Putzke said. "Bystanders were just pushing them out of the way. We couldn't keep up."
The National Weather Service in Duluth issued a flash flood warning for Todd, Cass, Crow Wing and Aitkin counties - basically in a line from Staples, Motley, Pillager, Brainerd and through Aitkin - for about two hours. By 7:10 p.m. the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds and Putzke said water on most streets had receded.
Outside of the flooded Brainerd and Baxter city streets, Bradley said there was little damage reported in the county. A lightning strike about 5:50 p.m. burned a storage shed at a residence on Crow Wing County Road 16. At about 2:58 p.m., a lightning strike also was reported at a residence on Olander Road, south of Emily.
There also were reports of trees down throughout Crow Wing County and the sheriff's department received several reports of tornados near Brainerd International Raceway and along Three Mile Road and Five Mile Road east of Brainerd, but Bradley said the reports weren't confirmed and no damage was visible on the ground.
A pickup traveled westbound on Motorists traveled slowly northbound on Highway 371 near Round Lake on Tuesday afternoon during a heavy thunderstorm. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Steve Gohde, observing program leader with the National Weather Service in Duluth, said the weather service will be looking into the reports of tornados but it didn't appear to be the real thing.
"We had a meteorologist watching and he said it may just have been a down-burst," Gohde said.
Dozens of motorists traveling on Highway 371 and Crow Wing County 3 pulled over on the side of the road soon after the heavy rain started at about 5 p.m., but continued their trek slowly, at speeds of 30-40 mph, after realizing the heavy rain would not soon be letting up. Parts of Ahrens Hill off Riverside Drive resembled mountain streams and rain poured down the hillside and into Gilbert Lake.
The weather service reported 6 inches of rain in Deerwood, 4 inches in Nisswa and 3.25 inches in Motley. In Staples, flooding forced the evacuation of homes on Fifth Street and power was shut off at the Staples high rise apartments on Fourth Street.
Also, the weather service received reports of 1.75-inch diameter hail three miles east of Pillager, .88-inch hail north of Gull Lake and in Brainerd. A wind gust of 60 mph was reported at the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport.
Tuesday's thunderstorm should be the last for a while, said Kevin Donofrio, weather service meteorologist. The forecast calls for partly sunny skies with high temps of 68-73 Wednesday, a 20-percent chance of rain showers and high temps of 60-65 degrees Thursday, mostly cloudy and high temps of 67-72 Friday and mostly clear with high temps of 73-78 Saturday.
"It's going to be cool and breezy the next few days but predominantly dry," Donofrio said. "The weekend looks really nice."
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.