Flooding: How locals along St. Louis River bank are coping

With the significant snow melt we had last week, the St. Louis River is presently at a major flooding stage cresting at 13.56 feet on Sunday 16th of April.

Authorities are now saying the river is going to maintain a moderate flooding stage for the rest of the week.

We spoke to business owners and residents along the river bank in Clouqet on how they are coping with the high tide.

Jessica LaFontaine a bartender at River Inn Bar and Grill says it has been a while they saw this kind of flooding. “Well, this is definitely once in a twelve year. The last time there was flooding like this, it was about 12 years ago. Last year, it did get up to the corner of the deck, but nothing like this. This is crazy”

The owner of River Inn, Aaron Hanson added. “We had water coming up to our deck last year. I mean, not close to this, I’d say since 1979. There’s been two other times that’s been higher than this and that’s it. So it is very rare.”

Aaron was also quick to state that the flooding has brought more customers to his bar as people flock in to see the flooded river due to the close proximity of his establishment to the river bank. “It’s actually surprisingly very well. It’s brought in a lot of people. I mean, there’s so many people that are interested in what Mother Nature can do and this is one of the closest restaurants, bars you can get to see it right out of the window. So they’ve been coming down and seeing what’s going on. But yeah, we’ve got a lot of people coming in and, you know, spending their money to eat and drink and enjoying the view.”

Just down the street also on the St. Louis River bank is ABRA Auto Body. The General Manager Jeff Oaks said they are still open but monitoring the situation closely. “We haven’t had any effects. We’ve had people calling a little bit concerned with their vehicles, but right now we’re still high and dry at this point, but we are well aware of it. Keeping track of it with precipitation coming up this week. We’re watching it closely. We’ve lifted our computer equipment up off the floor. We have a new server backup being installed today should we lose power or anything like that”

Another local we spoke to, Diana P. Adams says the flooding has actually improved and she is not as worried as she was during the 2012 major flood. “It’s going to get better now. It’s receded pretty good. In fact, I’ve almost got my backyard back and that’s probably 100 feet to where the river bank is.”