PRIOR EMERGENCY UPDATES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Grant Landbo- Public Information Officer
June 26, 2024 Public Information Officer glandbo@cityofjacksonmn.com
UPDATE ON CURRENT CONDITIONS:
We are seeking resources available to our residents. If you are an individual, business, or organization that is offering goods or services to residents, please send those details to glandbo@cityofjacksonmn.com
Garbage removal will still take place tomorrow as normal.
The river rose about 6 inches overnight last night. There has been very minimal rise since. We should see a crest by the end of the day tomorrow. Our levee and dikes are holding strong, and our critical infrastructure is well protected. The river water quality remains unsafe for people and animals and the swift movement is a hazard.
The State Street Bridge remains closed at this time and will be inspected by the County Engineer Friday morning.
We need one more volunteer overnight tonight to patrol the dike and check for leaks. The open shift is from 2AM to 8AM. Sign up using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B44A8A92BA3FAC16-50171691-overnight#/
We will be having another in-person briefing this Friday at 6PM at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Jackson.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Grant Landbo- Public Information Officer- glandbo@cityofjacksonmn.com
June 25, 2024 6PM
UPDATE ON CURRENT CONDITIONS:
Due to a rise in river level, the State Street bridge was shut down immediately. This decision was not made lightly and was solely based on ensuring the safety of our community. We will reassess our ability to re-open the bridge Friday morning. The river is anticipated to rise six inches. The City put safeguards in place to protect against a rise of two feet, so we have high confidence in the work we have done the last 72 hours.
Emergency medical services and fire services have been dispersed amongst both sides of the river to ensure coverage for all citizens.
It is unsafe for anybody to be on or near the dikes. In addition, we do not believe that it is safe for residents to enter their flooded homes until the water has receded to ground level.
For residents that have been displaced from their homes, Jill Leen of Royal Lead Boarding Kennel will board dogs for no cost. Please call Jill at (507)841-2014.
We will need volunteers to assist us overnight tonight in monitoring the dikes. We will have overnight shifts from 8PM-2AM and then 2AM-8AM. Volunteers will be driving UTVs along the dikes to monitor for leakage. Volunteers will need to arrive at the Jackson Fire Department at 7PM for training. We need 2 teams of 2 volunteers for each shift, in addition to 2 teams of volunteers to be on-call incase of a volunteer calling off their shift. In total, we need 8 volunteers to work the shifts and 4 volunteers to be on call.
If you are able to volunteer for this please email our volunteer coordinator Kelly Rasche at Kelly.rasche@co.jackson.mn.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Grant Landbo- Public Information Officer- glandbo@cityofjacksonmn.com
June 25, 2024 10AM
UPDATE ON CURRENT CONDITIONS:
Efforts continue to be underway to reinforce the dikes and flood mitigation tools due to an anticipated two-foot rise.
Lewis Pharmacy will be open for business today from 9AM to 6PM. They can assist one customer at a time. The drive through will be open for walk-up only. Access to the pharmacy will be off State Street. Sunshine Foods also remains open for business, and can be accessed off 71. Residents can drive around of the barricades on the north end of 71 to access Sunshine Foods. The Jackson Liquor Store and Jackson Golf Course is open.
There have been inquiries as to why we require volunteers to be aged 18+. This is a liability concern for the City, County, and our state partners. Any co-sponsored volunteer efforts need to use volunteers aged 18+. Other organizations or private citizens that are conducting volunteer efforts may be allowing volunteers under the age of 18.
For residents that would like to have the power shut off at their home, please call into the Law Enforcement Center. Electricity will be shut off at your meter, which means you may not see crews at your home.
Please do not call 911 to ask about road closures or information on businesses. This is overloading the dispatch center. The City will display a map on how to access key resources and post on Facebook in addition to the physical boards.
We will be posting more photos and videos of our efforts to mitigate the flooding this afternoon.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Grant Landbo- Public Information Officer
June 24, 2024 2PM Update
UPDATE ON CURRENT CONDITIONS:
Please continue to send us questions on Facebook. To answer the two most common questions we are seeing- garbage pickup is still on track for this Thursday. At this time, we are not accepting donations. We are appreciative of the communities overwhelming support! We will continue to send our specific requests for volunteers for our needs!
The water plant continues to be secured and operational. Crews are hard at work constructing a larger dike and repairing dikes in other locations.
The State Street Bridge continues to be open to the public. Our emergency crews need traffic on the bridge to continue moving. Please do not slow down or stop to look or take pictures as it prevents our crews from protecting the City. The Ashley Street bridge and the highway 71 bridge is unsafe for vehicle or pedestrian traffic and will remain closed for the indefinite future. Floodwater is not sanitary. Humans and pets should avoid contact with the floodwater. Additionally, the swift water is unsafe for any watercraft.
Community message boards have been placed at the Jackson Liquor Store and the Jackson Library. We are working on the fairgrounds now. Information that is provided electronically will also be provided on these boards. Information releases will be posted electronically and physically every day at 10AM, 2PM, and 6PM. Please remember that official City communications can be found on the City website, the City Facebook page, and these message boards. Information from all other sources is not official. The website page is live, and we will be compiling a list of resources available to our residents.
If you are using the Community Connect app, please open the app settings and enable push notifications on your phone so you don’t miss our updates!
A community information session will be held by City officials tonight at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Jackson at 6PM.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Grant Landbo- Public Information Officer- glandbo@cityofjacksonmn.com
June 24, 2024 10AM Public Information Update
CITY OF JACKSON, MN CONTINUED RESPONSE TO UNPRECEDENTED FLOODING
On behalf of the Mayor and City of Jackson:
UPDATE ON CURRENT CONDITIONS:
Currently the water plant is safe and operational. Water quality has not been in jeopardy at any point. Emergency systems built into the water supply system will shut down our water supply if a situation arises. Should the City need to shut down the City water supply, we will have access to Minnesota rural water for all residents in Jackson.
There has been a small decrease in water levels, however there is an anticipated increase in water level coming. Exact levels are difficult to determine due to water level monitoring systems being submerged. There will be multiple crests. To mitigate the anticipated rise this week, crews are working to build dikes that would protect against water levels two feet higher than the anticipated level.
Currently electric supply is safe. Critical infrastructure that provides power to the community is being protected. If the City anticipates an interruption of power, we will communicate this with the community.
The State Street Bridge has been reopened to the public. Our emergency crews need traffic on the bridge to continue moving. Please do not slow down or stop to look or take pictures as it prevents our crews from protecting the City. The Ashley Street bridge and the highway 71 bridge is unsafe for vehicle or pedestrian traffic and will remain closed for the indefinite future. Floodwater is not sanitary. Humans and pets should avoid contact with the floodwater. Additionally, the swift water is unsafe for any watercraft.
Currently, physical donations are not needed. As our needs change, we will post public requests for service. With volunteers, we will send out specific needs to the community for volunteers.
To increase our communications with our residents, a community message board will be erected at the Jackson Library, Jackson Liquor Store, and the Jackson County Fairgrounds. Information that is provided electronically will also be provided on these boards. Information releases will be posted electronically and physically every day at 10AM, 2PM, and 6PM. Please remember that official City communications can be found on the City website, the City Facebook page, and these message boards. Information from all other sources is not official. We are building a page on the City website to post resources available to residents. Please message us on Facebook with questions.
A community information session will be held by City officials tonight at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Jackson at 6PM.