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Published June 23, 2012, 05:05 AM

Carlton County leaders report on recovery efforts

Now that floodwaters are receding, Carlton County officials are turning their attention from emergency services to the business of recovery — and tourist control.

By: Jana Peterson, Pine Journal

  • Thomson flooding
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    The St. Louis River has washed out a section of the Highway 210 roadbed at the bridge between Thomson and Carlton, as seen Thursday, June 21, 2012. (Jana Peterson / jpeterson@pinejournal.com)
  • Northland flooding

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Now that floodwaters are receding, Carlton County officials are turning their attention from emergency services to the business of recovery — and tourist control.

“We’ve been fortunate that no one was seriously hurt or died,” Cloquet Police Chief Wade Lamirande said. “But we are encouraging the public to resist the temptation to go into areas where they could fall into water or otherwise be injured.”

He mentioned Spafford and Voyageur’s parks in Cloquet, as well as Jay Cooke State Park.

Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake also pointed to Jay Cooke as a potential problem area.

“Obviously, people are curious,” she said. “They want to get down and see the park and the bridge (where the road collapsed just below the Thomson dam). There’s absolutely no vehicular traffic or foot traffic. Conditions are so unsafe; the water is so high and running so fast.”

“The city of Thomson is currently accessible only by boat,” one Thomson resident told officials.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken and U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, meeting Friday afternoon with Carlton County officials and residents, were told that Thomson town was accessible only by boat.

Representatives from the county, townships and cities took turns giving short reports on the damages and challenges facing their communities:

  • Wayne Olson, Carlton County highway engineer, said his crews are working to open up roads that were closed by the flooding. A huge number of culverts across the county will need to be replaced or repaired; he put a tentative figure of $800,000 for the culverts alone. A lot of roads are washed out and a few residents are still using four-wheelers to get to homes that are inaccessible by car.

    “We had 33 roads closed Wednesday, then 44 on Thursday,” Olson said. “At one point the only east-west road that was open was Highway 210.”

  • In Barnum, the entire downtown flooded, one bridge remains closed and the Carlton County Fairgrounds is now a lake, Pat Oman reported.

  • Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake said between 230 and 250 people from Carlton, Thomson (51 homes), Thomson Township and the Fond du Lac Reservation were evacuated from their homes during the flooding.

    “About half of those people have been able to go home,” Lake said. “Others are still displaced, staying with family or friends.”

    Lake said that both the cities of Carlton and Barnum had “pretty much been under water” during the peak of the flooding.

    “And the city of Moose Lake has been hugely impacted,” she added. “The bridge is still closed, which pretty much splits the town in half.”

    Areas near Wright and Cromwell are also dealing with road closures and infrastructure issues, she said.

  • Many places are dealing with sanitary sewer issues, including Willow River, Moose Lake, Cloquet, Carlton and Thomson.

    “Our water and sewer lines were attached to that bridge,” said Thomson’s Heather MacDonald, referring to the washed-out roadway next to the Highway 210 bridge that now features a thundering river. “So even when the floodwaters recede, we still have no water and sewer.”

    She expressed concerns that the residents wouldn’t be allowed to return home without running water and sewer, and wondered if those things could be provided on a temporary basis.

  • On the Fond du Lac Reservation, Chairwoman Karen Diver said one public building was affected by the flooding, More than 20 percent of the housing stock had been affected by infiltration, and 21 roads are closed or have limited access.

    “Two of those roads are totally out, including one with a gully that’s probably 45 feet deep and 120 feet across,” she said, referring to Reservation Road. “But the wells are OK, and we were able to use the Tribal Center as a shelter.

    “The biggest thing for us is the roads.”

  • Mayor Leola Rodd of Carlton said many residents were bailing out basements filled with water and sewage. She praised city officials, Sheriff’s Office and firefighters for quick reactions, making sure people were safe and keeping roads closed.

    However, she said has concerns about the city’s infrastructure, particularly the sewer system.

  • Cloquet Mayor Bruce Ahlgren echoed Rodd’s concerns about infrastructure. He also talked about the two mills in Cloquet — Sappi Fine Paper and USG Interiors Inc. — which both closed down because of flooding. Both mills are on the banks of the St. Louis River.

    “We never realized they would flood,” he said. “USG employs 400 people, Sappi more than 700. Neither will be running for a while. We won’t know what the damage is for some time.”

    Franken told the local officials that he was certain that Carlton County would meet the threshold for federal disaster relief, but stressed more than once that public officials, businesses and homeowners need to thoroughly photograph and document damages.

    “Document, document, document,” he said.

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