Heavy rains this past summer resulted in the road to Riverside Town & Country Club being washed out.

After at least four years of not even making it to the Top 10 List, the weather has returned with a vengeance and is our choice for the top story in 2024.

After all, any year that has stories about both having drought conditions and severe flooding with drown outs in fields and washed out roads, must qualify for being at least one of the Top 10 stories of the year.

Storm damages, washed out roads and hundreds of small ponds and lakes in farm fields made the headlines in the months of June and July.

And, while it is not in Faribault County, the collapse of the Rapidan Dam, which is on the Blue Earth River, made national news. The Blue Earth River in the city of Blue Earth flows north to the Rapidan Dam.

Locally, parts of the county saw over 8 inches of rainfall in just a few days time. On June 17 a windstorm toppled trees around the county and took the top off a grain elevator in Easton.

Riverside Town and Country Club not only saw their golf course flooded, but the road to the clubhouse was washed out. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) even made a visit to inspect the Riverside T&C road.

And many farmers saw a lot of acres of cropland go under water.

It ended the drought, of course, but by fall, talk of drought conditions returned.

To see the complete list of our Top 10 Stories for 2024, check out the Dec. 30 issue of the Faribault County Register.