Photo courtesy of Dave Smiglewski Photos taken by Mayor Dave Smiglewski shows water reaching the backs of buildings and landscaping near Prentice Street in Granite Falls along the Minnesota River. Smiglewski said the flooding was minor, compared to what the city has experienced in the past.

Some effects of last week’s storms and rain took a while to reach Granite Falls’ downtown. On Monday, Mayor Dave Smiglewski caught footage and photos of the Minnesota River “rollin’ through” the city’s Rice Park, with rushing water up over the riverbanks.

But while some of the high water reached the back of buildings along Prentice Street, the river was still more than 12 feet lower than it was during the 1997 flood that devastated the city, Smiglewski said Wednesday.

While last Thursday’s severe storm did take down trees around Granite Falls and temporarily knocked out power to part of the city, they didn’t experience significant flooding.

“We did not have to take any flood-related precautions other than placing barricades on the Lende Lane alleyway along the river, below the footbridge. Our recent flood preparations have served their purpose well,” Smiglewski said. “A culvert was washed out on a township road just north of town. That road serves the city cemetery and brush disposal site. That will be repaired soon.”

Around noon Wednesday, the Minnesota River at Granite Falls was observed at a level of 887.24 feet above sea level — just under flood stage, according to the National Weather Services.

“Barring any significant rain upstream from Granite Falls, the Minnesota River appears to have crested and is just now beginning the long slow drop in elevation,” Smiglewski said.

On Wednesday, the river was flowing at a rate of 13,700 cubic feet of water per second at Granite Falls, according to the NWS. In comparison, on April 7, 1997, the river was at 899.84 feet above sea level, and was flowing at a rate of 57,000 cubic feet of water per second. That total included 40,000 cubic feet of water per second passing through downtown, Smiglewski said in a Wednesday Facebook post.

While the high water at Granite Falls was starting to recede on Wednesday, the NWS said there are still some potential risks for southwest Minnesota cities ahead. The city of Redwood Falls is included in a flood warning until early Friday morning, and the city of New Ulm was also included in a flood warning until further notice.

Rain and severe storms late last week raised the level of the Redwood River in Lyon County, but not to flood stage, according to data from the NWS. The river crested at a little over 14 feet on Thursday in Russell, and the flow has been decreasing since then. In Marshall, the river crested at around 13 feet on Thursday.

Like other area cities, Granite Falls had some cleaning up to do after last week’s storms.

“We had several trees down around town resulting in about half of Granite being without power for a while. Several of these trees were older, tall blue spruce trees, many of them landmarks around town,” Smiglewski said.

Almost all electrical customers in Granite Falls had their power restored by about 3 a.m. Friday, he said. ”

The following morning crews from Marshall Municipal Utilities were here to help our municipal utility crew with tree removals, setting some new poles and restoring power to a handful of other customers. Their help was greatly appreciated,” he said.