By Kari Lucin, staff writer

Stretches of Clark Street and Main Street in Albert Lea were several inches under water this morning. Many people in Freeborn County and neighboring areas woke up to puddles in their yards.

Freeborn, Faribault and Martin counties were under a flash flood warning, slated to end at 9:30 a.m.

&8220;We obviously have a problem, but I don’t know what they have planned in order to take care of it,&8221; said Harriet Opdahl of Albert Lea.

Freeborn County was also under a wind advisory. Both the wind and the torrential rainfall were caused by a low-pressure system sweeping across eastern Nebraska.

The storm dumped 2.57 inches at Albert Lea Waste Water Treatment Plant as of 7:30 a.m. Rain from previous systems already made the ground soggy before the storm moved in Thursday.

Police advised drivers to take alternate routes around water-covered roads if possible, and to go very slow through shallow water if necessary. Going fast could cause water to kick up into the engine and make it stall, said Lt. Glen Larson with the Albert Lea Police Department.

The rain was expected to stop before 9:30 a.m. today, but the wind advisory was to end at noon.

County officials expected to barricade some of the following frequent-flooding problem roads:

County 61 north of state Highway 109, County 27 west of County 6, County 107 near London,

County 71 near Twin Lakes, County 69 by Conger, County 105 near Newry, County 118 by

Hollandale, and County 24 straight north of Clarks Grove.

&8220;These are just problem roads that we have all the time,&8221; said Curt Rebelein, maintenance supervisor for the Freeborn County Highway Department.

The following counties were under a wind advisory, projecting wind of 35 mph, with gusting up to 40: Sibley, Brown, Nicollet, Le Sueur, Watonwan, Blue Earth, Waseca, Steele, Martin, Faribault, and Freeborn.

(Contact Kari Lucin at kari.lucin@albertleatribune.com or 379-3444.)