The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office says the Minnesota River’s current is too extreme for its divers as it tries to recover a vehicle that went into the water. 

According to the sheriff’s office, just before 8 p.m. Sunday, bystanders saw a vehicle go completely underwater at the Lyndale Avenue boat launch in Bloomington. The water patrol found the vehicle with sonar, but “due to extreme current,” it wasn’t safe for divers.

The HCSO has not said if a driver was in the vehicle when it went under. As of Monday night, the sheriff’s office says they’re still investigating. 

Hennepin County is just one of many with parts of the state under either a flood watch or warning.

In Scott County, emergency officials are preparing road closures and said they’ve had to do two water rescues in these conditions in the last week. 

“We’ve been getting a lot of rain recently, so waters [are a] little high right now,” said Sgt. Troy Kostohryz, with the HCSO Water Patrol.

The water patrol oversees the county’s lakes and rivers. Kostohryz says high river levels equal faster currents. 

“The current can get strong, and there’s also current underneath the water that you might not see,” he said. “There might be a dropoff that isn’t seen because the water level is high. We caution people to not go past maybe their hips or their stomachs.”

And no matter what the conditions are, Kostohryz says life jackets are always strongly suggested.