Animals escape, drown at Duluth zoo; flood prompts State of Emergency

The flooding in Duluth brings a state of emergency. The North Shore has lost 911 and most phone service. Sinkholes all over Duluth. Some of the Lake Superior Zoo’s barnyard animals drowned while two seals escaped along with the polar bear, which was subdued with a dart. One of the seals started a Twitter account before being captured on Grand Avenue and returned to the zoo, which is flooded along with the rest of the city.

MPR has collected some stunning photos.

This is very, very bad. And weird. But mostly bad.

UPDATE: The Duluth News Tribune is maintaining an excellent live blog of reports around the city, including specific information about how to get out of troubled areas.

UPDATE II: Mayor Don Ness and others held a press conference this afternoon:

Photo: Amanda Harrison via MPR

Comments

  1. That’s too soon for the seal Twitter account. So many other zoo animals drowning makes this too sad for humor.

  2. Yeah, I’m really conflicted about that. I think the fact that no people have died gives a little cover. Something about the fleeing seals, the polar bear dart gun incident. It’s tragic, but edgy. Really, really hard not to use this as a sort of unifying humor amid the wreckage.

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