Heavy rainfall caused flooding in parts of downtown Duluth and throughout the city

Crews and community members in Duluth spent the day drying out after flash flooding late last night, especially downtown. The National Weather Service said between three to five inches of rain fell in parts of the city causing some flash flooding.

“There’s been quite a few washouts and scouring reported throughout town, both West Duluth and East Duluth. Those are what were you primarily taking care of there. Not to the degree, not even close to the degree that happened down on Superior Street. But there are definitely some washouts throughout town,” said MnDot Operations Coordinator Jeoff Vukelich

The result of Monday’s overnight flooding created a scene on Tuesday morning for workers as Vukelich shared how the flood washed out construction sites and moved materials around.

“It’s always intense when you see large piles of dirt like that when you see large washouts, especially in the center of town. The thing to remember is that any gravel that was exposed to that got washed out. So, we have grader motor graders out today, and we also have sweepers out. We’re trying to put back together a lot of the washouts that happened overnight”

Behind the Whole Foods Co-Op in Central Hillside, residents WDIO spoke with like John Keefover said the rushing water there sounded like roaring waves.

“So last night, we were watching a movie, and all of a sudden it sounded like there was a hurricane happening. I took a look outside the window and noticed this water just rushing down that slant of our parking lot there. That’s when I recorded that video, me opening the door and just revealing just the river flowing right through our sidewalk and the parking lot there.”

High water levels even brought on rescue efforts for some living in downtown apartments. “I saw videos of them evacuating people via a ladder from the intersection and the ladder onto the porch, and then the neighbors below us were also getting flooded out and were stuck in there. The fire department evacuated them and their cats,” Keefover mentioned.

It will take some time to clean everything up, and no injuries were reported.