In some Edina neighborhoods, Minnehaha Creek is on the rise, making some homeowners not too happy.

“Try to be ready,” says Charlie Gross, who’s lived for 32 years along Cascade Lane. “Wish we didn’t have to do this.”  

The neighborhood is a quiet cul-de-sac, with most of the homes having back yards facing the creek.

“We keep a close eye on the flood levels, and the watershed, the Minneapolis watershed,” says Malorie Howells, who lives nearby.  

The creek’s edge is just inches below Gross’s backyard. Recent rains are quickly making up, he says, for the lack of spring snowmelt.

“The water level here was really low,” he notes. “It’s came up probably 24-25 inches since the spring.”

But the City of Edina is fighting back.

The Department of Public Works has filled about 2000 sandbags, offering to deliver them to homeowners.

“We felt it important to be prepared, and so today was all hands-on deck,” declares Brian Olson, the city’s Public Works Director.  “We don’t build the walls for them, but we provide them the materials to build the walls and help them protect their homes.”

Gross has been busy, building a floodwall, and stacking things up in his basement.

He and others hope to protect their homes from flooding like the high waters that impacted Edina a decade ago.

“We had basically the water three-and-a-half feet high for almost six months back in 2014,” Gross recalls. “It never came through. The insurance people, when they looked at stuff, they couldn’t believe the dyke held the way it did.”  

Olson says if you are an Edina resident, and need sandbags, you can order them from the DPW office during business hours.

After hours, you’re advised to call the police department non-emergency line.

For many, the hope is that the creek won’t rise much further.

“We knew what we were getting into, being in a floodplain,” Howells says. “But we love the nature, we love where we live, just times like these are unfortunate.”