‘Water Goes Where It Doesn’t Typically Go’: Experts Weigh In On Prepping For Severe Storms, Heavy Rain

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Heavy downpours could do damage to parts of your home. Service Restoration in Bloomington has already received dozens of calls for help since Thursday night’s storm.

“Our emergency department is 24/7. It being dry, the ground is hard, a lot of water in a short period of time, the water goes where it doesn’t typically go,” explained Ray Sandey with Service Restoration.

Ahead of the next severe storm, Sandey is urging residents to clean out their gutters and service their sump pumps. Clearing your storm drain is also important because rain could spill over into your foundation.

If basements get flooded, Sandey said start the drying process as soon as you can to prevent mold and other long term problems.

“Anytime we get heavy thunderstorms where the rain fall rate exceeds 2 inches an hour, we could see localized flash flooding,” explained Craig Schmidt, a hydrologist with National Weather Service.

With heavy rain, usually there’s severe thunderstorms too. Service Restoration has had to board up multiple homes for lightning strikes.

“All the guys are expected to work over the weekend. It’s just the nature of the game,” said Sandey.

WCCO meteorologist Chris Shaffer said it’s important to have a plan, get to your safe place and do not drive across flooded roadways. Shaffer added that people should not stand under a tree in a lightning storm.

The National Weather Service reports eight lightning fatalities this year, it includes one man in western Wisconsin.

You can watch our latest forecasts and live radar on our free WCCO Weather App.