Thursday, September 22, 2016

Yucatan Floods 2016 Edition

Torrential rain and over saturated soil combined to cause more flooding in the SE Minnesota area with Yucatan Valley being no exception. We got off light compared to nearby parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, yet it is annoying that yet another “flood of the century” has hit our township. So far we’ve had this or worse levels of unwanted water in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2013, and now 2016.

Yucatan Flood 2016 05

Having gotten out and about later than I should have, I missed out on some of the event while discovering the bumper crop of densely packed corn concealed a great deal of the damage. This year saw a change in planting methods to double yields by sowing the seeds so close together that you can’t walk through a field anymore. As a consequence, there wasn’t much in the way of dramatic photographic material.

Yucatan Flood 2016 01Yucatan Flood 2016 02

Areas where soybeans were planted revealed the hidden water concealed by unharvested corn leaving me to wonder how much crop damage has happened. Water was up to the edge of County 4, but didn’t appear to have gone over anywhere.

Yucatan Flood 2016 03Yucatan Flood 2016 04

That wasn’t the case with connecting roads adjacent to creeks or crossing the valley. Several were impassable and many a dump truck could be seen roaring back and forth to closed roads in the area. Water was also threatening some homes and the township hall.

More rain is expected with little in the way of dry weather to be found in the forecast. Thankfully we won’t end up with the kind of flooding reported in Viroqua, Wisconsin or Charles City, Iowa from the same storm system.

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