MPR’s Tom Weber interviews Sean Christenson, Willmar's city engineer, about how the city is dealing with historic deluge on August 10, 2016…one he considers a 1,000-year rainfall event.
This extreme rainfall event pounded parts of central and southeastern Minnesota. The highest total of 9.74 inches was recorded just east of Willmar. The storms created two 6-inch rainfall areas combined to cover just over 1,000 square miles, making 2016 a rare year with two "mega" rain events in Minnesota (a larger event hit northern and central Minnesota on July 11-12, 2016).