Wednesday, water levels on Rainy Lake rose just 1/8th of an inch despite storms Tuesday night.

The water seems to have tapered off and barring any more rain, local leaders believe it may finally have crested.

It could be months, however, until the lake returns to normal levels, leaving property owners with an uneasy feeling of uncertainty.

“The waiting game is awful. The unknown of when we will open... every day that we’re not opening we’re refunding people,” said Cole Hraban, co-owner of the Rainy Lake RV Park in Ranier.

Hraban and his wife Kari battled for weeks to keep their park open, but the water kept rising.

“I fought it until I couldn’t fight it [any] more. Then I pulled the buildings out trying to salvage anything that I could,” he said.

By May 21, water had crept so far into their campsite, that they were forced to shut down.

Less than a week later, the entire campground was submerged under at least a foot of water.

Picnic Tables, Benches, Electrical boxes, and buildings are now under 2-3 feet of water, and even when the water recedes, Hraban doesn’t know if those things will be salvageable.

Hraban says closing their campground has been a major financial hit.

“We lost the entire June part of May. And prediction looks like it’ll be all of July. You know, I don’t know the loss of income,” said Hraban.

He estimates they could lose out on up to $50,000.

Willi Kostiuk with Koochiching County’s Emergency Management Division says for many in the area, fatigue is starting to set in.

“They’ve worked so hard the last few weeks and they’re just tired. People are worn out,” he said.

Kostiuk said the county is doing all they can to help, but at this stage, there’s not much else that can be done other than wait for the water to go down.

Down the line, they’re trying to find a way to compensate property owners for the hardships they endured.

“You want to look at how you can help them as an individual and put those resources out for individual recovery and for the businesses to recover from the damages that they received,” Kostiuk said.

While many resorts and campgrounds have been forced to close their doors, several remain open.

Local resort owners advise anyone interested in visiting to call ahead to local resorts to help plan their trip.

To see the original report and read related stories, follow this link to the KBJR 6 News website.