What if there was a flood and you weren’t ready?

Spring snow melt will begin in earnest during the next few days as temperatures climb into the 40s. This means folks living and/or doing business on the banks of the Cannon River would be well-advised to implement a plan for protecting their property against flood damage.

The City of Northfield has announced that assisting private parties with property protection in non-emergency situations is #6 on a list of 9 items in its Emergency Protocol for flooding. City staff have conducted several public information meetings about flood preparation and posted links to a number of resources on the City’s website, Community Resources for Flood Preparedness.

There is information about what to do before a flood and what to do after a flood, but we wanted to highlight the BEFORE THE FLOOD information. Here are some of the highlights.

The Resource Vendor List has contact information for companies that sell sandbags and companies that sell sand. There are a number of Minnesota communities that have already begun filling sandbags. We think it’s not too early for Northfielders to begin this work as well. The Sandbagging Fact Sheet shows how to fill bags, where to place them after filling and how to structure a proper wall of sandbags SO THAT IT HOLDS.

In addition to the City’s website, we recommend checking out the information found at http://www.northfield.org/flood. This site is the place for volunteers to make themselves known and for those in need of volunteers to request assistance.

If you haven’t yet started preparing for a spring flood, we recommend that you begin today!