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For May 16
(for Southeast Minnesota, Northeast Iowa, and Western Wisconsin)- In 1999, record flooding began over northeast Iowa along the Turkey river and its tributaries. Over 5" of rain fell in many locations that Sunday, with over 8" in Oelwein. Major damage was done to the towns of Oelwein and Fayette where water inundated homes, business, and roadways. Boat rescues were need. The worst of the damage occurred along the Volga river from Volga to Elkport, and on the Turkey from Elkader to near Osterdock. Roads were flooded, some bridges swept away, mudslides, and even entire towns were evacuated. At one point, the town of Fayette was under 10 feet of water. A record flood was recorded in Garber, IA due to these rains, with the crest eventually reaching 30.6 feet a couple days later. Oelwein (4.38", wettest May day)
- In 1899, an F4 tornado moved east northeast from 3 miles northwest of Greeley in Delaware County, IA to northwest of Colesburg into Clayton County, IA. At least five farms were hit. The tornado narrowed to only 75 yards near Colesburg and swept away all buildings including homes on three of the farms. Two people were killed in one family and four others may have died later. Four men were caught in the one mile from Colesburg and two of them were killed as they looked for shelter. A tombstone of some kind was reportedly carried for two miles. This tornado killed 4 people (all in Clayton County) and injured 14 others.
- In 1933, walnut size hail fell in La Crosse, WI between 2:25 PM and 2:29 PM. The hail depth on the ground was approximately an inch from the Bluffs to southeast of the airport.
For more information on this, and other days, go to our
This Day in History page. Or,
review the whole document (in pdf format).
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