Community cleaning up after flooding in Albert Lea

(ABC 6 News) – Storms with heavy rain and high winds blew through the area Tuesday evening causing flash flooding in several areas.

One area hit especially hard was Albert Lea, where one tow company says they pulled more than a dozen vehicles submerged in water.

Now that the heavy rain is out of the area, Albert Lea and surrounding communities are focused on cleaning up.

Multiple rainfall reports show between 4-6 inches with the highest rainfall total being 5.87 inches in Albert Lea, that coming from Pickerel St.

With all the rainfall occurring in a matter of a couple of hours, several homes in the area took damage. One of those individuals was Robin Dooley.

"Couldn’t see that, could barely see the top of the bleachers. As I said, this entire place just looked like a giant lake. This whole area, everybody from my house down to the corner had anywhere from 10 to 8 inches or more," Dooley said.

In other parts of town, the damage was so extensive that the professionals had to be called in.

Experts say homeowners should seek flood insurance if they live in flood plains or other flood-prone areas. They also recommend taking photos of your basement that way insurance companies know what needs to be replaced.

And of course, make sure to stay out of flooded basements altogether as something plugged in could electrocute the water. Within a week or so, most homes should be dried. Recovering assets will likely take much longer.