Delano is continuing to monitor the river levels through town.  The river is currently at a height of 15.6 feet, trending towards the National Weather Service projection of 19.2 feet by Saturday morning.  This level is comparable to the 19.25 feet reached in the flood of 1997.  The City also handled this level of flooding twice in 2001, reaching 19.95 feet and 18.85 on different occasions.  In all previous floods, the City has been able to handle the water levels without significant flooding and/or damage.   

Sandbagging efforts last Friday have prepared the City to handle flood waters past a 20-foot level.  A temporary levee has been constructed in the parking lot of the Xcel Energy Property north of Bridge Avenue, west of the river bridge.  This levee will protect the property and areas around the intersection of Highway 12 and Bridge Avenue.  The Xcel Energy property and American Legion parking lot area would incur flooding around 19 feet if not for the temporary levee.  Additionally, the sandbags filled near the intersection of 2^nd Street and River Street will be placed along the backside of the existing levee near that intersection on Wednesday or Thursday.  This levee has experienced some weeping and leaks in past floods of 1997 and 2001.  The sandbags will help provide support to the levee in this location.

The City’s main concern at the present time is the threat of ice dams.  Today, ice dams were reported along the South Fork of the Crow River near the cities of Rockford, Mayer, and Cosmos.  In those cities, dams caused river levels to bounce as much as a foot or more in a short period of time.  The City remains on alert, preparing to deal with ice dams as it can.