Lonie Wendt of Vivian sent information and photos of Medicine Creek to the Dakota Radio Group this week.
“We thought the Medicine was high a couple days ago, bit today it is over two feet higher. After nearly four inches of rain during the nighttime hours of May 26-27, 2019, Medicine Creek has probably reached its all-time high. Never have heard of an accurate record being available.
“In 1927, lots of rain plus the railroad dam breeching at Draper, had usually been regarded as the highest the Medicine had ever been, as it wiped out nearly every wooden bridge crossing in its path, including some Milwaukee RR trestles. However, those bridges were of quite short spans and the resulting wall of water probably was a large factor in the damaged bridges.
“Oris Authier and I marked the “high-water” level on the old bridge in 1993, during which the water lapped upon the bridge surface but did not scour the bridge. Today’s flood is about 2’ below the surface of the new bridge, which is 34’ longer than the old highway 16 bridge.”
