Up to 10 inches of rain kills 1, leaves soggy mess in Midwest
MINNEAPOLIS — Several Midwestern states were a soggy mess Thursday after up to 10 inches of rain fell in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa and triggered mudslides that caused one death.
Washed-out railroad tracks derailed a train in southwestern Vernon County, Wis., where a mudslide destroyed a house and killed the man inside. His name was not immediately released.
The rain mostly moved through the states Wednesday evening and early Thursday, though another round was in the forecast for northern Iowa on Thursday night. While muchof thewater began to recede or drain Thursday, its effects could be found throughout the area.
In southern Crawford County, Wis., two BNSF Railway locomotives and five cars derailed. The crew wasn’t injured, but one of the fuel tanks ruptured, spilling about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel — some into the Mississippi River, the railroad said. BNSF crews placed booms downstreamto capture the fuel.
Wisconsin emergency officials said 15 peoplewho lived nearbywere evacuated as a precaution.
In Minnesota, the northern suburbs in the Twin Cities area saw up to 10 inches of rain.
Seventy miles south in Waseca, which saw nearly 14 inches of rain over two days, basements were flooded across thecommunity, and several residents were evacuated.
To the southwest, the city of Faribault declared a state of emergency as it worked to hold back the Cannon and Straight Rivers by stacking sandbags and building berms.
In northern Iowa, authorities evacuated about 100 people fromtwo apartment complexes in Mason City after Chelsea Creek left its banks, Cerro Gordo County officials said.