Rivers cresting in parts of the metro area, as federal aid is approved for 22 counties

Swollen rivers in St. Paul and the southwest metro area began to crest Saturday and should start to drop Sunday — at least until an expected round of rain arrives on Monday, the National Weather Service says.

According to the National Water Prediction Service, the Mississippi River at St. Paul was expected to crest Saturday evening at 20.3 feet, which would make it the seventh-highest crest on record. But Tyler Hasenstein, a Weather Service meteorologist, said he thought the river would come in under that level.

On Friday morning in Jordan, the Minnesota River swelled to a record 35.12 feet, breaking the previous mark of 35.1 feet set in 1965. At Savage, the river threatened to flood one lane of Hwy. 101.

And on the St. Croix River, flooding in Stillwater’s Lowell Park has already forced the city to postpone its July 4 celebration. River levels there lingered on Saturday around 87.8 feet, considered a minor flood, and appeared to be dropping, according to river gauge data.

Some disaster relief is on the way. On Saturday, Gov. Tim Walz’ office announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a disaster declaration for 22 Minnesota counties affected by flooding over the past two weeks.

More rain Monday could keep rivers high or push receding smaller waterways back into flood stage, Hasenstein said. He said areas of concern were mostly in southwest Minnesota along the Le Sueur and Blue Earth rivers; any additional flooding on those streams would take from five to seven days to reach the Mississippi, which drains both rivers.

Many areas were already grappling with costly damage or closures after an unusually wet start to summer. Hasenstein said roughly an entire summer’s worth of rain has fallen in a monthlong period from late May into June.

That water will continue to flow down the Mississippi, which has yet to crest in some stretches. The river was expected to rise another 6 inches at Hastings, the Weather Service said.

The federal disaster declaration is the first step in reimbursing communities for debris removal, temporary flood barriers and other emergency measures.

The federal disaster declaration covers much of southern Minnesota and also parts of northeastern Minnesota, where flash flooding this month washed out roads and inundated the small town of Cook, about 90 miles north of Duluth.