Storm brings heavy rain to region
Rugby residents deal with flooding
Trending
RUGBY - Rugby residents awoke Monday, Aug. 24, to water flooding their lawns and roads and carrying away propane tanks following an overnight thunderstorm that brought up to 8 inches of rain.
Russell and Deb Jacobson were using a pump to move the water out of their basement when the power was turned off. Deb Jacobson said she resorted to using a bucket to carry water out.
Rugby resident Carol Miiller said the water reached her home's lower level windows.
"We opened the window and water came in. We do not dare flush our toilets," she told The Pierce County Tribune.
The National Weather Service in Bismarck reported thunderstorms bringing heavy rain moved through an area from northwest of Bottineau to Minnewaukan/Fort Totten, including passing through Rugby, Sunday night into early Monday morning. Within Rugby, precipitation reports ranged from 4-8 inches, according to the NWS.
The Bottineau area had 4-7 inches, according to reports from that community, although there was no known flooding or damage to the level seen in Rugby. East of Bottineau, there was a report of some localized flooding. Some roads had water going over them and some had mud sliding. The city of Bottineau had water-filled ditches, and the creek through town appeared backed up, raising questions about the potential for downstream flooding.
The NWS cited rain reports of 3.9 and 5.6 inches around and southeast of Bottineau.
The Rugby Fire Department responded at 6:30 a.m. Monday to a flooded area southwest of the Rugby High School to pump water. Fire Chief Joel Berg said about eight homes in that area had flooded.
The fire department also was pumping to move water away from Rugby's mobile home community. Berg said four houses were flooded in that section of town and four homes had basement walls that collapsed.
Jennifer Bercier, staff writer, The Pierce County Tribune, contributed to this article.