Minn. Storm Causes Massive Sinkhole, Mobile Park Damage
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- We're seeing the effects of all that rainfall in several spots around the metro.
Strong winds and soggy ground were too much for the trees at a mobile home park in Princeton. More than a dozen huge trees fell, damaging homes and cars.
Fortunately, there were no injuries, explosions or fires.
Now, everyone who calls Sherburne Village home is racing the clock and trying to clean up the mess left behind from Sunday night's storm before the next one arrives.
"The radar is red and yellow and it's looking ugly," Park Manager Janelle Whitcomb said. "I've got trees on cars, trees on houses."
Sherburne Village was hit hard by strong winds and heavy rain.
Whitcomb is dealing with a tree pulled up by the roots -- concrete and all. It now rests on top of the home it once provided shade for.
"We paired kids with a group of adults. They are dragging all those loose sticks and twigs that could fly with this next storm out of the street where the trucks and tractors are loading," Whitcomb said.
Eden Prairie Sinkhole
Everyone is doing what they can to help. But it was equipment that needed rescue near Burr Ridge Lane in Eden Prairie when a sinkhole opened up.
"A contractor did lose some equipment. It's sitting at the bottom of this ravine," Eden Prairie's Public Works Director Robert Ellis said.
Now, the sinkhole is a huge problem for at least one homeowner.
"We had major erosion and pipe failure in our storm water system caused massive erosion and a sloughing of the bluff to the creek area below," Ellis said.
Ellis says contractors were already in the area working on a much smaller project when the heavy rain caused the ground to collapse.
"It was a fast burst of moisture that we had. It was about two to three inches over a 15 to 20 minute period the soil was already saturated because of the rain over the weekend and it was just more than the system could handle," Ellis said.
Ellis believes the home may be a total loss. His crews and contractors will try and stabilize the soils so they can work on a permanent solution.
Sherburne County residents are now bracing for more rain, using tarps to keep it out of their homes.
