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Published March 24, 2011, 12:00 AM

PHOTO GALLERY: Sandbagging begins at Hudson

Volunteers worked Thursday afternoon to protect three homes on South Front Street


Bill Bauman, left, and volunteers build a sandbag dike Thursday afternoon, March 24, in front of Bauman's house on South Front Street. The volunteer crew included Pat Kelly, right, of Stillwater, Minn., Karen Keeney of Roseville, Minn., and Suzy Groves of Hudson, second from left.

  • Bill Bauman, left, and volunteers build a sandbag dike Thursday afternoon, March 24, in front of Bauman's house on South Front Street. The volunteer crew included Pat Kelly, right, of Stillwater, Minn., Karen Keeney of Roseville, Minn., and Suzy Groves of Hudson, second from left.
  • Homeowner Bill Bauman takes a sandbag from volunteer Suzy Groves. Groves is a leukemia survivor who became a body builder. She now does life and leadership coaching for individuals and corporations. You can learn about her business at www.becompleteamerica.com.
  • Volunteer David Hartung of Stillwater, Minn., drops a sandbang in place. Homeowner Bill Bauman, left, watches the progress on the temporary dike in front of his house.
  • Karen Keeney of Roseville, Minn., front, and Suzy Groves of Hudson carry 35- to 40-pound sandbags to the dike under construction. Keeney and Groves said they heard about the need for volunteers in Hudson after offering to help with sandbagging in Stillwater.
  • Hudson volunteer coordinator Marty Best talks logistics with Janet Smith, left, and Kristen Sailer of the St. Croix County Emergency Management office. Best, a retired Army Reserve colonel, has experience running emergency response operations.
  • St. Croix EMS Chief Eric Christensen talks to South Front Street homeowner Mark Erickson (in the truck). Christensen is heading up the city's response to the expected spring flooding.
  • Water was spilling onto the boat launch parking lot in Lakefront Park at about 2 p.m. Thursday, March 24. The National Weather Service reported the level of the river at 681.8 feet above sea level on Thursday. The river had been rising at a pace of about a foot a day.
  • A small metal plate on a power pole at the corner of First and Buckeye streets marks the height of the water during the record flood of 1965. The floodwater reached an elevation of 694.1 feet above sea level that year. The average level of the St. Croix River at Hudson is 675 feet.
  • A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tag shows the high water mark from the 1965 flood - 694.1 feet above sea level. The tag is about five and a half feet from the ground on a power pole at the corner of First and Buckeye streets in Hudson.
  • Agave Kitchen owner Paul Rode reminds people that March 24, 2010, was a lot warmer than March 24, 2011. A car thermometer said it 27 degrees outside when this photo was taken Thursday afternoon.