ELY - A late afternoon thunderstorm Saturday brought hail, wind and copious amounts of rain to the Ely area in a very short amount of time, resulting in many flooded intersections and numerous wash outs along with at least two areas of extensive storm sewer damage.

City of Ely Public Works Department crews worked Monday morning on a large sink hole on Camp Street between Central Avenue and 1st Avenue West created by a damaged storm sewer pipe.

Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski inspected the damage as a backhoe operator cleared away pavement and dirt.

“Oh boy, that old clay pipe has to be 42-inches around,” Langowski said as he peered down the hole. “This is a lot worse than I originally thought.”

The intersection of Pattison and 2nd Avenue East is also closed to traffic this week as storm sewer damage is repaired.

A reported two and three-quarters of an inch of rain fell in the immediate Ely area in about 15 minutes late Saturday. “The 100-year average is about six inches in an hour,” Langowski said. “I don’t know what this would be called. Overall, the damage in the city was not as bad as I expected. Just a couple of miles away, they didn’t get anything.”

A driver reportedly drove over the damaged portion of street on Sunday and one wheel sank into the hole, according to Langowski. He related other reports of rain water pouring in through basement windows in some areas.

Maarja Faltesek and her dog Mila played in the knee-deep water near her home on 2nd Avenue Saturday afternoon. “This is pretty crazy to get all of this water all at once,” she said.

Nearby, neighbors yelled at a driver of a pick-up truck who zoomed through the flooded street and created a large wake which caused waves to lap against the foundations of nearby houses. “Slow the (expletive deleted) down, I live here,” one neighbor yelled.