Delano city officials are monitoring river levels as the rain falls and the water continues to rise.

In Delano, River Street is living up to its name.

“We always cross that bridge and you look down into the water and it’s like way down, so it definitely came up a lot,” Averi Shrode, Delano resident, said.

Now the downtown bridge is shut down to cars and pedestrians because the Crow River is rising too fast.

“It gives some people something to do to come check it out and look how high it is. The kids think it’s interesting,” Shrode said.

City officials are also keeping a close eye on it.

“Our river levels have gone up in the last 24 hours, along with the change of the crest,” Holly Schrupp, Delano mayor, said.

About 24 hours ago, the river was cresting at 19.2 ft, but now it’s over 20 ft.

“So far we have closed floodgates, installed pumps in several areas and we’ve installed our flood wall that went up on Wednesday morning,” Schrupp said.

In several areas around the city, drivers are met with mini lakes forming in the middle of the road.

At Barb King Inspiration Park, a stormwater drainage issue created a pool next to a playground.

“We have a couple of acres of woods and a trail that goes through the woods over that way and it is completely underwater,” Ayla Lienhert, Delano resident, said.

This is Lienheart’s first dose of Delano flooding.

She said she bought her house in February so her family can take advantage of the land.

But those plans are on pause.

“We just watched all of the ice break apart last weekend and now it’s three times as wide,” Lienhert said.

But all they can do is go with the flow.

“We live in a crazy state where it was just 80 degrees and now it’s flooding,” Shrode said.

The mayor said Public Works will be working throughout the day and night to monitor river levels.

Officials are urging residents to respect the barricades and don’t go around them for their safety.

Nearby in Carver County residents are seeing road closures.

Friday afternoon, portions of both Highway 32 and Highway 11, which turns into Highway 9 in Scott County, will close due to flooding concerns from the Minnesota River.

Highway 32 between Vega Ave and Highway 135 will close Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Highway 11/Jonathan Carver Parkway, which turns into Highway 9 in Scott County, will close at 1 p.m.