MOOSE LAKE, Minn. - Despite flood waters receding, dozens of people have not been allowed back into their homes in Moose Lake.
Officials say the water is dropping two inches an hour, which is allowing people to get a better idea of the damage and it is extensive.
The Moose Lake High School still had two to three feet of water in parts of the building early Friday afternoon.
"It's tough to determine the damage because we don't know how much water has been soaked up into the walls. We're assuming the walls here on the lower levels will be saturated," said the school district's superintendent Tim Caroline.
Caroline says the district's insurance will cover about $75,000 worth of the damage which will only cover pumping out the water, he believes. But he knows they are lucky.
"We'll survive here. We'll clean up. It's a mess. The folks and families that lost so much, that's the hard part," he said.
The constant hum of generators and pumps could be heard throughout the town as homeowners spent the day pumping out several feet of water from their houses.
As of Friday afternoon, 150 homes were flooded with more than two dozen still evacuated.
"We've pumped out three feet of water since eight this morning," said Moose Lake homeowner Tom Anderson.
Anderson still had three feet to go as of Friday afternoon. At the height of the flooding, water covered his basement from almost top to bottom. He lost everything that was done there, including his furnace, hot water heater and his washer and dryer.
His garage was damaged too, along with his 1972 Corvette and 2006 Pontiac parked inside. Both vehicles were totaled. His home has been in his family since 1942.
"If you think about it too much, it does tear at you and you start to lose it. But no one was hurt, no one got killed and everything can be replaced," he said.
Officials are still limiting travel in parts of the town and some roads remain closed.
The bridge leading into town off of State Highway 73 is still closed. The water is no longer flowing over it from the Moose Horn River, but officials want the bridge inspected before allowing traffic over it again.
The cleanup is in full force which will take weeks, if not longer. But the memory of this historic flood doesn't appear to be receding anytime soon.
"I've never seen rain like this. I've been in some massive storms. It just didn't quit. It just kept coming and coming," said Anderson.
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