STILLWATER, Minn. — The record-setting rain has some people wondering if the weather will ever turn around this summer.

It has already caused the St. Croix River to rise to the highest its ever been in June, according to Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay. 

“This river is on its own,” said resident Louis Watson. “It’s gonna do what it’s gonna do, so it’s quite something to see it this high.”

The St. Croix can usually crest in April when the snow melts — not so much in the summer. And that’s making it much harder for Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski to manage. 

“It’s completely out of the ordinary,” said Kozlowski. “It’s not really so much about the height, as it is the duration and longevity of this thing that really kind of hurts us.”

Boulay says 17 inches of rain fell from April to June, making it the fourth wettest period ever.

“If we wanted something to break the drought, we did it in style,” said Boulay. “It doesn’t really flood that often on the rivers in June and into July here and it impacts different things, like the 4th of July.”

Kozlowski says the city is postponing the holiday’s festivities and fireworks, likely until the end of August. He says that downtown Stillwater is still open for business and the city will communicate a new date for fireworks and associated events when something more specific is decided upon.

In the meantime, more rain is expected in the coming days and the river is receding much too slowly.

“If this river only drops a couple feet in the next two weeks, and we get a three-inch rain event, we’re going to have to build a 10-foot wall all up and down this park still,” said Kozlowski. “We’re certainly keeping our eyes on the sky.”

The Climate Prediction Center released an update on Tuesday that shows the second and third week of July trending much drier and warmer. But that means those dangerous, hot temperatures will persist out west and far east. 

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WATERVILLE, Minn. — More than a week after the community of Waterville shattered it’s previous highwater mark by more than two feet, the level of flooding throughout town is still higher than anything anyone has ever seen.

“We were told this house would never flood,” said Amanda Sheridan, with a laugh. 

Sheridan and her husband never worried about flooding when they moved into their home on North First St a couple years ago because it sat several inches above the 100 year floodplain.

That sense of safety was washed away after several days of torrential rain overwhelmed everything.

“We had sandbags stacked several feet high, but by Saturday it was like, evacuate the house,” Sheridan said. “Then for four days we couldn’t get to the house because the flood waters were over the street completely. Then we came back and we started canoeing.”

With about four inches of water throughout their bottom floor, she knew they were luckier than many of their neighbors, but still overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead.

“Everything is rotten,” Sheridan said. “It smells bad and we got all the smelly carpet out but the mold is growing and it still… you smell like a fish in here or even worse.” 

According to Le Sueur County, flood damage to public infrastructure alone is currently estimated to be about $3 million. That includes about $2 million in damage to infrastructure in Waterville.

That number is sure to grow, since standing water still covers many of the town’s streets. Meanwhile, estimates of private property damage are still just beginning to come in.

“We’re up to 130 houses affected some way, whether it’s destroyed, slightly affected, minor damage or major damage,” said Tammy Stewig, director of Emergency Management for LeSueur County. “But with the water where it is, not all our residents have even been able to get to their homes to even assess their damages.”

As the water continues to recede, the county has set up a debris drop-off site, staffed with volunteers and county employees who are doing their best to speed clean up and mitigate environmental hazards.

“They had couches come in full of mold already,” Stewig said. “So we’re just taking the precautions of wash your hands, wear not only work gloves, but they have latex gloves under or over their gloves.”

For more information on the debris drop-off hours, and how to help the Waterville community in various ways, click here.

Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:

Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11’s newscasts. You’ll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.