Mississippi receding after apparent crest

The Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul was recently predicted to crest as of Thursday of this week. The latest forecasts from the National Weather Service are a bit anticlimactic, showing the crest likely happened shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The weather service reported a crest at 18.24 feet, or little more than a foot above major flood stage, at 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, with river levels dropping to 17.9 feet as of Thursday evening. The Mississippi at Harriet Island was still lapping recreational fields and seating areas well inland of the Harriet Island pavilion, a watery intruder into parking lots and trails.

From the Watergate Marina to Pig’s Eye Lake, segments of eight streets and 17 parklands throughout the city remain closed.

The river is expected to continue to gradually recede over the next week, though river levels are still forecast to exceed 15 feet, or moderate flood stage, into the morning of May 4. The river reached 14 feet, or minor flood stage in mid-April, and rose to moderate flood stage around April 18.

— Frederick Melo

Man fatally shot during standoff with FBI

The FBI said a man was shot and killed after a long standoff Thursday at a North Minneapolis home.

Agents were attempting to serve a search warrant at the home when the man barricaded himself inside, the FBI said in a statement.

After hours of negotiations, the man came out of the home with a weapon and was shot. It was not immediately clear how many FBI agents fired their weapons.

An unarmed woman who was inside the home was injured and taken to a hospital but the extent of her injuries was not known, officials said.

No further details were immediately released.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the man live-streamed the standoff from inside the house in the 3700 block of Dupont Avenue North.

Minneapolis police and Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies were at the scene to assist. None of those officers discharged their firearms, though the sheriff’s office said a deputy deployed a less lethal launcher.

— Associated Press

Freight train derails along Mississippi River

A freight train derailed along the Mississippi River in southwestern Wisconsin Thursday, possibly injuring one crew member and sending two cars into the water, officials said.

The train derailed in Crawford County at 12:15 p.m. Two of the train’s three locomotives and an unknown number of cars carrying “freight of all kinds” derailed on the eastern edge of the river, BNSF spokesperson Lena Kent said. All crew members were accounted for, with one receiving a medical evaluation, she said.

Crawford County Emergency Management Specialist Marc Myhre told WKBT-TV that about 20 BNSF cars were involved.

Two cars went into the river, but neither contained hazardous materials, Kent said. Some of the containers that derailed on shore contained paint and lithium ion batteries, and a boom was being placed in the impacted area, she said.

“The volumes involved don’t pose a risk to the river or the communities,” Kent said.

— Associated Press