Forecasts of more heavy rain this weekend put an exclamation point on a surge of flood preparations in Washington County, including emergency declarations by four cities bordering the Mississippi and Lower St. Croix rivers.
"We are very closely monitoring what those forecasts are going to be and how the graphs will change," said Doug Berglund, the county's emergency management director. The county Public Works department had begun stockpiling sandbags, he said.
Newport's City Council declared a state of emergency after the swollen Mississippi breached two levies, inundating some homes and buildings and flooding some streets. Cottage Grove, Lake St. Croix Beach and Afton followed suit by Thursday afternoon.
Utilities were shut down at two houses in Newport and residents were evacuated, said Bruce Hanson, director of the Public Works Department. Two other residents were on standby for evacuation.
The city was pumping water back over the levees, with city workers putting in 12-hour shifts to run the pumps and keep the streets from flooding.
The levees in Newport, hurriedly built during the 1965 Mississippi River flood, have been a vexing issue for the city. Never intended as permanent structures, they've been weakened over the years from erosion, animal burrows and tree roots. Sand used to build them becomes mushy in heavy flooding, allowing water to seep through.
Because they are private structures, city involvement in improving them creates a legal and financial liability. As a result, Newport has adopted a flood policymaking clear that it is not responsible for the levees, but will protect city property and offer limited help to residents for sandbagging. The city last week set up a sand station for homeowners at the intersection of Cedar Lane and 16th Street.
Early in the week, Matt Iverson was watching waters creep higher on his riverside property where he has lived for more than a dozen years. But he wasn't panicking.