“It’s heartbreaking”: Neighbors travel by boat to see their homes underwater in Waterville

WATERVILLE, Minn. — One of the hardest hit communities by flooding is Waterville. 

Gov. Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard over the weekend to help with flooding where the Cannon River runs through the Tetonka and Sakatah lakes surrounding the town. By Monday afternoon, there were 44 guard members there to help pump water.

Waterville officials say this is the worst flooding the town has ever seen. Parts of the city are underwater due to 14 to 18 inches of cumulative rainfall. Some areas are worse than others, with flood water knee-deep to hip-deep.

“It’s heartbreaking seeing anything like this,” Brandon Peterson said. 

The only way down his street is by boat. His family evacuated Friday as the water rose fast.

“Never seen it like this before, never want to see it like this again,” Peterson said.

He has flood insurance, but not all of his neighbors can say the same. A few blocks away lives Gail Hildebrant. Her home was elevated after the 2014 flood. 

“It came up so fast. It was just unbelievable how fast it rose,” Hildebrant said. 

Volunteers stopped by to sandbag her home and, as of Tuesday, it appears to be spared, but she needed help to evacuate.

“The effort was amazing, and they are just one team of people of tons of people,” she said of the volunteers who helped her. 

Neighbors are now waiting for the water to recede so they can begin what will be a long clean-up process. 

“Hopefully FEMA will step in and help finance some of the cleanup and rebuild. We’ll get it cleaned up. We’ll be there for people, and they will be there for us,” Peterson said.

Kirsten Mitchell

Kirsten Mitchell joined the WCCO team as a reporter in November of 2021. A Saint Paul native, Kirsten is proud to tell stories in her home state. She graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Go Gophs!) and interned at WCCO during her time there.