Mill Creek Flooding Halts Traffic – belltimescourier.com

Traffic on Highway 10 at the Paullina Golf Course opened Saturday around 1:00pm after flood waters stopped flowing over the road and debris was removed. Photo by Vanessa Rohwer.

A low-lying crop field just south of Primghar turned into a lake Friday morning June 22. The cropland has a branch of Mill Creek running through it. Eventually the water moved downstream flooding portions of Paullina, topping L48 south of Paullina, topping C16 just east of Oakdale Church before joining the Little Sioux River at Cherokee. Some bridges are closed in spots until they can be inspected. This includes bridges south of Paullina and west of Calumet. In Cherokee County all bridges that cross the Little Sioux River are closed until further notice.

Heavy rains for days across South Dakota, Minnesota and locally caused rivers and streams to burst out of their banks on Saturday June 22. Widespread rainfalls of 5, 6 even 12 inches were reported across the region for multiple consecutive days. The deluge pushed large volumes of water through the Big Sioux River, Rock River and Little Sioux Rivers as well as the tributaries.
Most communities did not escape at least some inconvenience. Other communities such as Rock Rapids, Rock Valley, Spencer and LeMars are hard hit. Emergency management systems took action, evacuating residents by boat and, in Rock Valley, by helicopter. Floodwaters are blamed for a train derailment in Lyon County.
There are reports of lost livestock. Crop fields may are severely damaged in many cases. It’s too soon to determine lost acres.
At least 3 vehicles in O’Brien County were washed off roads. Do not drive through moving water.