Which way to safety?
The decision could mean their lives.

If they had taken the shorter route to safety, they might not be here today.
They could see the car ahead of them on the flooded highway reaching higher ground. It looked like they would be out of the rising torrent of mud and water soon. But they could not see that wood and debris had been caught under their car and would stall them and mean they would have to just try to save themselves.
Mike and Lori Fraser of Cannon Falls and sons Joshua, 10, Jacob, 4 and their 12 year old border collie/lab mix, Abby, had been camping in their pop-up trailer at the Pla-Mor Campground and Marina located about six miles south of Winona on Hwy 14/61 on the weekend of torrential rains in the area.

It was a “cruddy weekend”, Lori recalled, so at 3 a.m. Sunday morning they decided to pack up and leave. It had rained all day Saturday so the ground was mushy and it meant everything would be packed away while wet. And it was difficult for Lori who has rheumatoid arthritis in one knee.

Driving back up the “switch-back” road and onto the main highway was OK, Mike recalled, just slow going.
But when they got outside Minnesota City they realized they were in trouble. Although the car was still running it wasn’t moving. It had gotten hung up on debris. Joshua looked out the windows and exclaimed, “I think you’re moving.” But Lori explained that it was the water running by the car that was moving. They were stuck.

Lori called 911 and was told they would send a boat. The family watched the water rise outside their car. Soon the water covered their headlights. It got half way up their door.

They saw flashing police car lights about one block ahead of them. That’s where the car they were following had made it to higher ground.
What the Fraser’s did not know was that the road ahead of them had a dip in it. This meant that the water would probably have been up to Mike’s chest and the current was violently pulling everything with it.

In their rear view mirror Mike saw some flashlights. Two young men who had just graduated from high school were with the Goodview Police Reserve. They had also heard Lori’s 911 call and canceled the boat because they would help the family out.

And Mike decided to go back towards them instead of straight ahead.

They believe this likely saved their lives.

The police directed them to walk diagonally to the current for about a mile. Lori had their dog on a leash and Jacob was carried by one of the police reservists. The little boy recalled wondering, “Are they going to take us to jail?” He was happy to see that when they got to a safe area “They gave me a police dog puppy!” (Stuffed animal.)

But even with the rain gear they were soaked and only had the clothes they were wearing.

Joshua had had to leave his “Game Boy” (a hand held game console) in the car and the little stuffed black bear he had had since he was two years old. But after wading through muddy waters up to his waist he realized he probably wouldn’t have been able to save his stuff anyway.
Their clothes dried out while they wore them.

They spent about 45 minutes sitting in a fire truck while people were being rescued from a nearby motel. Then they were brought to a station were volunteers were handing out coffee and umbrellas and even socks. Yes, one person had gone to a nearby store and bought packages of socks for those rescued.

Later they were taken by a city bus to St. Mary’s University where the Red Cross was headquartered. While watching the TV they saw footage of their car and camper on the road! Here Jacob received another stuffed animal. A bear. He was so concerned about his brother leaving his in their flooded car that he insisted on giving this bear to him.

Jacob exclaimed to Joshua, “You’re the BEST brother in the world!” Older brother Joshua retorted, “I’m you’re ONLY brother!” But little Jacob insisted, “You’re still my best brother…”

Soon they called Lori’s Mom, Gay Gellert to see if she could come and get them. Not knowing the flooding dangers still going on, Gay asked a friend, Lyle Noble, to come along.

Several days later, the Frasers were able to see their impounded car and camper. The car was a total loss. The camper wasn’t covered by insurance so they brought it back home and were surprised to find that only a little mud had seeped in on the floor. But Lori explained that they used a lot of bleach in cleaning it up!
And they had been able to salvage just about everything else… including Joshua’s Game Boy and bear!

(Lori is a Goodhue County Social Worker and part of the South East Minnesota Behavioral Health Team that was organized to help in crises. Lori volunteered to go back to the area a few days later. She explained, “Our role is to assess the needs and talk to people and advise of the available services.”)