“It’s been a lot in a short period of time,” said Wright County Emergency Management Coordinator Jarika Eisentrager.

Wright County received quarter to ping-pong ball sized hail on Saturday. The hail totaled vehicles and roofs, as well as stripped leaves and branches from trees which, in turn, blocked storm drains.

“Saturday’s hail storm caused a lot of damage,” said Eisentrager. “We have crops that are decimated and a lot of vehicle and roof damage. But the leaves and trees that blocked storm drains, that really didn’t help us with last night’s rain.”

Wright County was targeted again by Mother Nature less than 24 hours after the first storm as a severe thunderstorm dropped between five to seven inches of rain throughout the county, flooding the communities of Eagle Grove, Clarion, and Goldfield.

-Photo by Bruce Voigts
An overhead view of land in rural Clarion is shown on Monday. The area was inundated with rain over the weekend, causing flooding of fields, roads and basements.

The National Weather Service didn’t have an official rainfall total as of Monday afternoon, but said that radar estimates in Eagle Grove alone were between four to five inches of rain.

According to Eisentrager, multiple roads throughout the county remained closed Monday due to flooding. She said Wright County Secondary Roads was able to open up some roads as water retreated back into ditches.

“We have a lot of water in a lot of basements throughout the county right now,” said Eisentrager. “With this much rain with back-to-back storms, there’s only so much the ground can take when it’s already saturated. We’re doing the best we can right now, but it’s going to take time to get back to where we need to be.”

Kala Thury and her husband Elias were driving back to Eagle Grove after attending the Karl King Municipal Band concert in Fort Dodge. Thury said the downpour began about 9:40 when they got to Iowa Highway 17 from county road D18.

“We had to be careful about which roads to take because certain ones were flooded,” said Thury. “Cars were getting stuck at some intersections and a lot of the storm drains were clogged with tree debris from the hail the night before and that night.”

-Submitted photo
Streets around the Eagle Grove Middle School flooded Sunday afternoon when a strong storm dropped more than five inches of rain on Wright County.

Thury said they made it to their home on the east side by the fairgrounds only to find water in their basement, much like most residents of Wright County.

“Until 2 to 3 a.m. in the morning, you could see people throughout town throwing stuff from their basements out onto their lawns and running sump pump hoses out through the yard and into the streets,” said Thury. “For a brief moment we lost power, but thankfully it was only for a moment. I don’t know what would have happened if the town had lost power.”

Thury said their sump pump was running throughout the night and she estimated that they had approximately seven inches of water in their basement. She said some of her neighbors had “multiple feet of water” and some had sewage back up into their basements.

As residents begin clean up for both weekend storms, dumpsters have been made available to residents. The City of Clarion has placed dumpsters for flood debris only at the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School parking lot on the corner of Willow Drive and 11th Street Northeast. T&S Sanitation and The Trashman are also providing dumpsters for residents. The City of Goldfield has placed a roll-off dumpster for flood debris at city hall.

-Submitted photo
Corn crops were shredded Saturday evening when a severe hail storm hit Eagle Grove.

Officials: Wright County Fair will go on this week

EAGLE GROVE — Despite flooding, the Wright County Fair will go on as planned, according to the fair board. The fairgrounds still have significant standing water, but contingency plans are being made to ensure that the fair runs July 9-14.

According to the fair board, the parade will continue as scheduled. Accommodations are being made for food trucks to still be on the grounds.

The entertainment lineup will remain the same with potential locations being changed based on flooding. Static judging and open class 4-H judging for today will continue as scheduled.

Alternative parking solutions, along with potential shuttles, are being worked on. Camping will be determined by the board on Wednesday. Livestock exhibitors are asked to check their email on Tuesday as updates will be made available as to the conditions of the grounds.

-Photo by Bruce Voigts
The Wright County Fair area in Eagle Grove experienced significant flooding issues during Saturday and Sunday's torrential rains.