UPDATE: Waters continue to rise on St. Croix

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Sandbagging efforts are already underway in Stillwater and other communities along the St. Croix River.

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A community flood meeting was held Monday morning in Stillwater, Minn., just across the Wisconsin border at the St. Croix River.

The city’s Riverwalk Park is flooded. A crest later this week could close the Stillwater Lift Bridge and that can cause major traffic headaches for Wisconsinites who commute to work in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

Residents and officials in Stillwater were filling up sandbags until late last week when colder temperatures caused uncertainty in the flooding forecasts.

Now folks are concerned about protecting the many restaurants, art galleries and antique shops that are relatively close to the river in downtown Stillwater.

There was some good news as it relates to the St. Croix. The National Weather Service is now predicting a lower crest for the river than originally expected. The chance for record flooding has decreased dramatically over the past week, thanks to colder temperature and slower snow melt.

The risk of flooding has eased up on the Mississippi River as well -- at least for now.

The cold temperatures of the past few days have held back the rising waters from last week’s rains and snow melt. As a result, the National Weather Service says the Mississippi will have its crests from April 5-7 in the Winona, Minn., and La Crosse areas and April 10 around Prairie du Chien.

Forecasters say the crests will be about a foot over flood stages, and minor flooding is predicted.

But a second and larger rise in the river is expected later in April due to last week’s heavy snows in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Meanwhile, there’s only one flood warning left on the Kickapoo River in southwest Wisconsin. It’s at Steuben where the water is expected to drop below its flood stage later this morning. Flood warnings continue on the Baraboo, Rock, Crawfish and Fox rivers in southern Wisconsin. The Fox River in Kenosha County was still almost a foot and a half above its flood stage last night, but only minor flooding is predicted in the Wheatland area. The river is expected to drop below its banks by Friday.

Tags: area news, news, wisconsin, minnesota, weather