Travel is still not recommended in Mitchell County after widespread flooding from Sunday’s storms. State Highway 9, just west of Osage, will be closed for weeks after a large sinkhole opened on the roadway. Other secondary roads throughout the county were also impacted by flooding.
State Representative Josh Byrnes of rural Osage traveled throughout the county on Monday and says a number of rural roads are in bad shape. He says there are a lot of blacktop roads where the shoulders are gone. Byrnes says, “You literally drop the wheel on some of these shoulders, you would do some serious undercarriage damage to your vehicle.”
He says the bridge in Staceyville has been closed by the county engineer and he says there’s concerns about undercutting and worrying about what happens if some of that gives way. Byrnes says there’s more than just roads and bridges that Mitchell County residents have had to worry about.
He says some St. Ansgar residents have had to deal with sewage backing up into basements, and also businesses like Bawek’s Shoes in Staceyville which had four feet of water in the basement. Byrnes says farmers have taken a tough hit as well with the massive rainfall.
He says there’s a lot of corn stalks that are piled up into one spot, and that a lot of topsoil has been washed away due to the heavy rain. Portions of Mitchell County received anywhere between four to ten inches of rain on Sunday and received more rain last night.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City