Parking Lots, Sidewalks and More Flood on Barker’s Island

Combination of high winds and high lake levels meant unprecedented waves.

SUPERIOR, Wis.- The storm affected more than just Duluth. Across the bridge in Superior, a section of Barker’s Island got flooded.

Parking lots, sidewalks, and more were drowned in water, along with the big attraction, the SS Meteor.

Quite a few people in the area told FOX 21 that the Meteor tried to float away Monday, as Barker’s Island dealt with flooding and waves not seen before at the Marina.

You can see the amount of water surrounding the Meteor and the mini golf course. On Tuesday a good amount of that water still remains.

Other reports from the area said the rain guards put in place for events like this filled up–and the water had no where else to go but the parking lot.

At the nearby Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Education Coordinator  Deanna Erickson said the combination of unusually high wind speeds and already high lake levels is something they’ve never experienced before.

“There was ponds in places I’ve never seen ponds, and waves up really high in places I’ve never seen waves before,” Erickson said. “We may need to adjust how we live on the coast because of that and also how we deal with stormwater.”

“When those things all pile up together storm drains are reversed in a lot of cases.”

Evidence of storm drains reversing their flow happened not too far from the Marina.

“For example in Superior, Faxon Creek (that’s across the way) that had water pushing up it instead of going down,” said Erickson.

A sign of just how powerful the water from the Lake can be.

“Water can hurt you if you don’t respect it,” Erickson said.