Minnesota may have to change it’s nickname from “the Land of 10,000 Lakes” to “the Land of One Lake – One Great Big Lake,” if all this rain doesn’t stop soon.

New Ulm has had 10.5 inches of rain in the last seven days, about 12.5 inches for the month, according to the Weather Channel. The average rainfall is around 4.8 inches.

We are in the same boat (pun intended)?as other cities and towns in southern Minnesota. Roads have been flooded, sewer systems taxed and overwhelmed, farm fields inundated.

Gov. Mark Dayton on Thrusday declared a state of emergency for 32 counties, including Blue Earth, Brown, Nicollet, Sibley, Redood and Renville – nearly the whole Journal circulation area.

We have seen the destructive power water can have when it rushes from one place to the next. Roads can be washed out and hillsides can slide away. Even cars can be pushed and tumbled away.

State officials have been issuing warnings on how to stay safe in such conditions. The best advice – stay away from the water. Don’t go boating in rushing rivers and streams, don’t try to drive through flooded roadways – you don’t know if the road is still there under the water.

The New Ulm Utilities Department is asking people cut back on their water usage. The city’s sanitary sewers are filling with rainwater that seeps into sewer pipes, and people may be sending water seeping into their basements down the sanitary sewer pipes. This can cause sewage to back up into people’s homes. The city’s wastewater treatment plant is also nearing its capacity.

We’re hoping for dry weather in the days ahead. We’ll need it for the cleanup and repair work that lies ahead.