Aug 20, 2007 12:37 am US/Central
Traveling By Boats, Homes Underwater In Rushford
by Caroline Lowe
Rushford, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Frightened residents fled from their beds to safety in the middle of the night as Rush Creek overflowed, flooding their homes and their cars.
CBS
Residents of Rushford, Minn. are nervously watching the skies, bracing for more rain after a devastating day in the rural Fillmore County community.
"Just total devastation, I mean we have a two-story house and the whole first floor is underwater," said Rushford resident Dan McLellan.
Two-thirds of tiny Rushford is underwater. Boats, kayaks and a few trucks were the only modes of transportation on the streets Sunday afternoon.
"The time will come when this will be a memory but right now it's a nightmare," resident Jo Malmin.
Frightened residents fled from their beds to safety in the middle of the night as Rush Creek overflowed, flooding their homes and their cars.
"We just grabbed our medications and the clothes on our back, jumped in the vehicles and the water chased us up the street," said resident Jon Helland.
Rescue crews in boats searched the streets all day looking for people and animals who might still be stuck in their homes or trailers. Some residents were numb with shock as they returned to look at their flooded homes wondering how much they lost.
"Everybody is pretty distraught, you know, just wondering where to go from here. We don't even know if we have a home," said McLellan.
Many residents also pitched in to transport food and supplies to other victims of the flood. The Fillmore County Sheriff came by boat to the command post at the Rushford city hall/
"There's a lot of damage here. This is going to take a long time," said Fillmore County Sheriff Daryl Jensen.
No one was seriously hurt in the city and while the community is flooded and without power, there is still a "can-do" spirit amongst the residents of Rushford.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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