Flash flood inundates Wis. town for 2nd time
LAKE DELTON, Wis. (AP) - June 10, 2008 The Lake Delton breach was caused by violent, drenching weekend
thunderstorms that threatened the survival of the tiny Wisconsin
town of Gays Mills and displaced thousands of Indiana residents.
The stormy weather was blamed for 15 deaths in the Midwest and
elsewhere.
An engineering assessment team from the Wisconsin National Guard
headed to Lake Delton to determine what was needed to repair the
gaping hole that let water from the 267-acre lake carve a new
channel to the Wisconsin River on Monday.
Other crews were going to dams throughout the southern and
western part of the state to assess damage. They also were
monitoring several dams that were seeping or in danger of failing,
state Emergency Management spokeswoman Jessica Iverson said.
However, no significant damage had been reported at any of the
dams, Iverson said.
The downpours in states like Iowa, Illinois and Indiana flooded
corn fields and made it difficult for farmers to plant, pushing
corn prices to record highs on commodities exchanges this week.
The rainfall also has created flooding concerns along the
Mississippi River. The National Weather Service on Tuesday
predicted crests of 10 feet above flood stage and higher over the
next two weeks at places including Hannibal, Mo., and Quincy and
Grafton, Ill. Most of the towns are protected by levees, but
outlying areas could be flooded.
"This is major flooding," weather service hydrologist Karl
Sieczynski said of the Mississippi. He urged people in unprotected
flood plain areas to seek higher ground.
Levee breaks Tuesday in southeastern Illinois flooded 50 to 75
square miles of farm land along the Embarras (EM'-brah) River,
forcing the evacuations of an unspecified number of homes northeast
of Lawrenceville, said Lawrence County Sheriff Russell Adams. He
said water was up to the roofs of some rural homes.
And in Iowa, officials in Cedar Falls told downtown residents
and business owners to prepare for possible evacuations as the
Cedar River threatened to top the area's protective levee.
Elsewhere, the East Coast is being baked by a heat wave. Heat
watches and advisories were in effect Tuesday from North Carolina
to New Hampshire. New York City recorded a high of 99 on Monday at
La Guardia Airport, with 96 at the heart of the city in Central
Park. Thunderstorms promising relief from the heat for parts of the
Northeast knocked out power Tuesday to 50,000 homes and businesses
in upstate New York, and a tornado watch was posted there and in
parts of neighboring states.
Scores of schools around the Northeast planned early closings
for a second day in classrooms that lack air conditioning. Agencies
in Wilmington, Del., appealed for donations of fans and air
conditioners for needy residents.
The collapse of the embankment at Lake Delton swept away three
houses and tore apart two others.
"My boat's gone. The pier's gone. Everything is gone," said
Don Kubenik, 68, who burst into tears after seeing the
2,800-square-foot vacation home he built in 2003 being destroyed.
The water pouring out of the reservoir also ripped away buried
sewer lines, and a contractor started work Tuesday to stretch a
temporary sewer line across the 200-yard breach. Raw sewage was
still pouring out of the pipes and downstream to the Wisconsin
River.
Lake Delton, a key part of the Wisconsin Dells tourism area, was
nearly dry by Monday afternoon. The 20 resorts that line the lake
already are reporting cancellations by people who had planned
summer vacations in the area.
Just south of Lake Denton, part of the world's largest
collection of antique circus wagons was moved to higher ground
Tuesday as the Baraboo River threatened to flood the Circus World
Museum.
About 70 miles southwest of Lake Delton, the village of Gays
Mills was inundated during the weekend, just 10 months after
another devastating flood left residents working to rebuild homes
and businesses.
The swollen Kickapoo River engulfed nearly the entire town
Monday morning, forcing about 150 of the 625 residents to evacuate.
By evening, the village was a grid of canals with cars submerged up
to their windows, a repeat of last August's flooding.
"I can't believe this is happening again," said Liz Klekamp,
23, who said she grabbed her cat and fled Monday morning when water
poured into her house. "It's really, truly sad."
Indiana officials said they could not give a dollar estimate on
the damage or the number of homes and businesses destroyed by
flooding caused by up to 11 inches of rain on Saturday. Two more
inches fell Monday.
Flooding in parts of Indiana had eclipsed levels set in the
deluge of March 1913, which had been considered Indiana's greatest
flood in modern times, said Scott Morlock, a hydrologist with the
U.S. Geological Survey in Indiana.
The weekend death toll included eight in Michigan, three in
Indiana, two in Oklahoma, and one each in Iowa and Connecticut.
---
Associated Press writers Todd Richmond in Gays Mills, Wis., Ken
Kusmer in Indianapolis and Jim Prichard in Grand Rapids, Mich.,
contributed to this report.