Flooding in Duluth, Minnesota.

[JennyLeez]

Duluth, Minnesota

-A state of flood emergency declared.
-Around $100 million damage estimated from Northland flooding.
-About 200 residents from the Fond du Lac neighborhood in Duluth and 40 from the Thomson, Minnesota area are still displaced.
-It is believed to be the worst flood since 1972 in the Twin Ports area and along the north shore of Lake Superior.
-Sinkholes and mudslides were reported across the city.
-Several animals at Lake Superior Zoo were killed by floods.
-Heavy rains have caused runoff in the Duluth Harbor and out into Lake Superior.
-Internet and cell-phone service is out in Two Harbors and elsewhere in Lake County.
-Several inbound flight cancelled by Duluth International Airport due to severe weather.
-Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County.

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[JennyLeez]

Minnesota city flood kills zoo animals

Heavy rains pounded northern Minnesota on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of dozens of homes, causing mudslides and sinkholes, and swamping a zoo where several animals died and a polar bear briefly escaped, officials said.
The flooding in the Duluth area, a port on Lake Superior, was the worst the city had seen in four decades, officials said.
"The last time there was something similar was in 1972," said Duluth police spokesman Jim Hansen.
The sheets of rain turned some hillside roads into rivers that tore up roadways, popped off manhole covers and flooded the Lake Superior Zoo, where several barnyard animals died, including a donkey, sheep and goats.
"It's pretty devastating," said Kara Gilbert, an office support specialist who was answering telephones at the zoo. "We can all look out and see half of the zoo under water."
The zoo's polar bear, Berlin, exited her exhibit and was tranquilized by the zoo's vet and quarantined, the zoo said. Two seals also escaped their enclosures but were captured.
"A few of the animals got out of their enclosures, but they are contained and doing fine," Gilbert said.
Five to 9 inches of rain fell overnight and rain continued on Wednesday with a flash flood warning in effect until 10:30 p.m. CDT (0300 GMT) for parts of the region, the National Weather Service said.
About 250 residents left 80 homes in Duluth's Fond du Lac neighborhood, and 40 residents were cleared from the town of Thomson, about 18 miles southwest of Duluth. Two campgrounds also were evacuated.
No deaths or serious injuries were reported as a result of the heavy rains and flooding.
Numerous roads in Duluth and the surrounding area were under water, and parts of area highways and Interstate 35 in Duluth were impassable. Officials warned residents to stay off the roads, and said the standing water was likely unsanitary.