Several evacuated as central Minnesota experiences flooding

Flooding in central Minnesota causes evacuations

After overnight storms, parts of central Minnesota are experiencing flooding.

A number of homes near the Little Elk River in the town of Randall had to be evacuated today, while a number of roads were closed off.

"There's water everywhere. It's completely insane. I've never seen anything like this," said Meghan Waldoch.

Waldoch spent part of Friday afternoon trying to get to her mother-in-law's house. But it was no easy task. 230th Avenue leading into Randall was closed, and surrounding country roads were washed out.

"She's got 12 inches of water in her basement but she's doing okay," said Waldoch.

In town, Jason Ganz couldn't say the same for his mom, Patricia. A porch pillow from her house was found blocks away from her home.

"The countertops. That's how high the water is in the house right now," said Ganz. "Everything is floating. Couch is floating and everything in there."

For now, she'll stay at Ganz's apartment in nearby Little Falls.

"She's devastated. She works for the state she was working overnight last night. She's at my place trying to get a nap in and she can hardly do that even," said Ganz.

Another concern in Randall is that there is potential for more rain and flooding Friday night into Saturday morning.

"It rained really hard. On and off until about 2:00 in the morning," said Bob Maschler.

Maschler is a WCCO Weather Watcher. He said his rain gauge registered more than a foot of rain in four hours. Maschler has lived near Randall most of his life, and it's the worst flooding he's seen in 50 years.

"We were hoping for rain and then it came. We didn't need quite that much," said Maschler.

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