By: Sheila Crowley
Murray County News Staffwriter
As with many disaster situations, the impact affects many. Recent flooding in Murray County affected cities, residential, as well as businesses. The fourth of July is traditionally one of the busiest times for the lakes area, however, the torrential rains definitely put a damper on many of the activities that normally take place.
The City of Slayton had 20-40 homes that were affected by the previous rain event on June 20th. “I don’t think this last rain probably affected any other residents,” shared Josh Malchow, Slayton City Administrator, “however, it didn’t help their situation any either.” The City of Marshall had sent down two six-inch pumps to help pump water from the manholes. “Probably our biggest challenge at this point is trying to coordinate how to clear the water from the Ampride parking lot,” he explained. The City of Slayton owns the property but everything has to be approved through the DNR before anything can be done.
Mike LeTendre, general manager of Ampride, said this is the most water he’s ever seen in the thirty years working there. “We’ve had water here before, but nothing to this extent.” The water is a result of the overflow from Beaver Creek into Lake Elsie. The 45 acres of lake bottom is a temporary holding area for overflow storm water from the City of Slayton. This overflow, however, has affected sales at the local gas station. “I figure we are losing nearly 1,000 gallons a day in diesel fuel sales over a two week period,” says LeTendre. “Who wants to stand in water to fuel their vehicle.”
Water levels had crept into the parking lot from the previous rain… coupled with the heavy rainfall the water has now reached north of the diesel pumps. Gravel was put in place to prevent the water from getting into building site. Water from the Slayton Golf Course flows down and builds up in Lake Elsie til it overflows.
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