(Downtown Rockford, April 1965 / photo: Courtesy Rockford Historical Society)
60 years ago this week, many areas in Wright County were living through the worst spring flooding in history.
The flooding was triggered by a combination of deep frost, late winter snow that included the St. Patrick’s Day Blizzard of 1965, followed by heavy April rains that lead to rapid snowmelt and runoff. Rivers throughout the region including the North Fork Crow River and Crow River in Wright County, as well as widespread areas of the Upper Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers had some of the worst flooding.
The records set during this flood still stand in many places, and the event resulted in significant property damage, evacuations, and fatalities in some parts of the state.
The 23.25 foot crest of the North Fork Crow River in Delano in 1965, and the 19.27 foot crest of the Crow River in Rockford still stand as the record high water mark in those communities.
(Delano – April 1965 / Image courtesy of Delano Franklin Township Historical Society Facebook)
Communities responded by building dikes and sandbag walls, and the National Weather Service issued forecasts, preventing potentially millions more in damages. Because of the spring flooding of 1965, communities worked with hydrologists on a review of flood mitigation efforts and infrastructure improvements.
Though Wright County communities have seen some significant high water several times over the past 20 or so years, nothing compares to the ravaging floods 60 years ago this week.
