DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) – 12 years ago, Duluth was torn apart by catastrophic flash flooding. Since then, infrastructure around Duluth has been improved to help keep damages minimal.
On Wednesday flash floods hit Duluth again, but outside of minor damage to city trails and parks, flood impacts could’ve been much worse.
“We could have a few hundred thousand of damage from there, but I’m happy with that compared to what it could’ve been,” said Duluth’s City Administrator Dave Montgomery.
In comparison, Duluth suffered $100 million in flood damage following the 2012 flash flooding.
Rob Morehouse with the Duluth Fire Department was a first responder during the 2012 floods. He says the city as a whole learned a lot from the experience.
“So 2012 was a very large learning curve for us. I believe that was a 500 year event if I’m not mistaken. We learned a lot in that event based on ‘What was our infrastructure back then? Was it prepared?’ We learned that we had some upgrades that had to be made,” said Rob Morehouse.
The main focus after the 2012 flood was getting the water to leave neighborhoods more efficiently and it seems to be working.
“Where we had a lot of damage before was in culvert blowouts, creeks dramatically expanding over their banks. We had none of that this year,” said Montgomery.
Some of the infrastructure that will help the city is still being built.
In 2021, city officials began to identify over 17 million square feet of potential sites for plots of green infrastructure to minimize potential flood damages.
Near Woodland Avenue in the Hartley Nature Center, construction is underway to turn the area into what the city calls “Green Infrastructure.”
In Irving Park, the city has already converted some of the park into a low-lying, grass-covered space where water can be stored, rather than running down it rapidly.
“Water was coming down the hillsides obviously, but not to the magnitude so it was not as destructive as it was back then,” said Montgomery.
Improvements in how the city manages flooding were seen in rescue services as well.
According to Morehouse, the city received rescue and training resources following the 2012 flood.
“In terms of water, our marine division has really flourished, so now we have more capabilities with our suits, and our surfboards, and are jetskis and boats,” said Morehouse. “We’ve invested a lot of time and a lot of energy into training our leadership on emergency management.”
Duluth’s landscape and emergency responders are now better equipped to handle high water, thanks to improved construction, preparedness, and resources.
The city still wants to warn individuals to pay attention to changing conditions, never drive in standing water, stay away from any flowing water, stay inside to avoid lightning strikes, and if needed find a highly elevated area for safety during flash floods.
If you have a report of damage due to the flood contact the city at (218) 730-4000.
Click here to download the Northern News Now app or our Northern News Now First Alert weather app.
Copyright 2024 Northern News Now. All rights reserved.