Rushford residents happy to be home
by The Associated Press

RUSHFORD -- Eleven months after a devastating flood, more and more lights are coming back on in Rushford.

Take 83-year-old Don Woxland. The businessman and his wife, Laurine, are putting the finishing touches on their new modular home. It replaces a 13-room mansion that was lost in last August's flood.

The Woxlands' neighbors across the street have a new home. Their next-door neighbors have a foundation and basement started.

Woxland says he's glad to see normalcy return.

The flood devastated two-thirds of the buildings in the southeastern Minnesota town.

City administrative assistant Heather Larson says official numbers of Rushford residents who have rebuilt aren't yet available. But the city issued 440 building permits in 2007 and 150 in 2008. That's up from an average of 75-80 building permits a year.