Major flooding in the Duluth area has closed roads, Duluth city hall and a university campus and has authorities recommending emergency travel only.
Steady, torrential rain has closed Interstate 35 and downtown tunnels in Duluth. Police say sinkholes and washouts have made travel dangerous. Residents in a south Duluth neighborhood near the rising St. Louis River were being asked to leave their homes.
Several animals drowned as the Duluth City Zoo flooded overnight. The hillside city is laced with dozens of streams that run toward Lake Superior and those streeams were gushing. The latest rainfall estimates are 6 to 8 inches in the last 18 hours.The deluge closed Interstate 35 downtown -- a section that runs through a tunnel has flooded -- and cut off the Morgan Park neighborhood on the west end of town. There have been no reports of deaths. With roadways impassable and rain continuing, the city's police chief and mayor have asked residents to stay off the roads.
The flooding has forced the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus to close, along with the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus, Myer said. And the Miller Hill Mall has been shut down.
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