Storm Leaves Section of Larpenteur Avenue in Roseville flooded

A woman left with a purchased bag of donuts at 5 a.m. on Saturday from Lee’s Donuts in Roseville and drove into what seemed to be just a puddle.

It turned out to be more than four feet of water, which flooded a section of Larpenteur Avenue on the edge of Roseville between Lexington and Hamline Avenues. The woman’s car became stranded in the waters until being towed out around 11 a.m. She got out of the car in time and got on dry land safely.

Thunderstorms and heavy down pours that hit the Twin Cities early on Saturday morning caused the flooding. It left flood damage to several businesses and resident’s property on Larpenteur.

“I knew it was going to be a puddle, but not a lake,” John Piche of Century21 Realty in Roseville.

Century21 sat high enough above Larpenteur to avoid the flood waters, but a business on the back side of the same office complex had some waters rise around it.

Waters also crept up to Saint Francis Animal Hospital on the corner of Larpenteur and Fernwood Street. Flooding has been an annual concern at that section of Larpenteur.

“One year when there was a Super America on that corner, there were loaves of bread floating around when it flooded,” Jim Reiter of Century21 said. “This is the worst I have seen it in 20 years.”