Wisconsin Emergency Management officials say two dams are failing in southeast Wisconsin and a handful of others are eroding, overtopping or may fail.
The Upper Spring Dam in Palmyra and Wyocena Dam in Columbia County are failing.
The state says Mirror Lake Dam in the Wisconsin Dells is overtopping and may fail.
In Sauk County, Dell Creek Dam on Lake Delton is overtopping. The lake there overflowed and washed across the highway into the Wisconsin River, sweeping away three homes.
The Danville River Dam downstream of Columbus is overtopping. Authorities there now say evacuation is mandatory.
The state's Department of Natural Resources is flying over dams in Vernon County and sending engineers to other counties to assess damages.
Gov. Jim Doyle on Sunday declared a state of emergency in Dane County and 28 other counties, and Madison broke a 134-year-old record for most rainfall ever on June 8, as storms continued to pound the area, dumping more water onto the already saturated ground.
Madison received 4.11 inches of rainfall Sunday, shattering the previous record of 1.4 inches set in 1874.
A flood warning was issued for the area around Spring Creek in Lodi. The creek was at almost one foot above flood stage at 7 a.m. Monday.
Many rivers and streams throughout Dane County and the surrounding area are in danger of reaching or exceeding flood stage over the next few days. The Rock River near Fort Atkinson was forecast to rise above flood stage on Monday.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Columbia and Sauk counties Monday, which expired at 4:30 p.m.
Sauk County emergency management director Jeff Jelinek said the dam on Lake Delton was not breached, as earlier news reports said. In addition to the three homes destroyed, Jelinek said the overflow caused other home and road damage, and a news release warned about uprooted trees and large debris in the water. There is currently a shelter set up at Lake Delton Elementary School for people living near the flooded area, he said.
Jelinek warned nearby residents to "stay away from rushing waters" near the lake and to avoid County A, which is closed between U.S. 12 and County T. A later report by the Sauk County emergency management indicated that approximately 300 feet of the highway had washed away.
Jelinek said there is little the county can do right now to stem the breach until water levels decline.
"You really can't do much with water," he said. "It's going to do what it wants to do."
Steve Schultz, a spokesman for Alliant Energy, which has two hydroelectric dams downstream from the affected area on the Wisconsin River, said the company is "aware of the situation" and managers of the facilities are currently meeting to discuss protecting the dams. Contractors are currently at the sites "making sure things don't get worse than they already are," he said.
The village of Marshall urged all residents to limit their use of the village's water and sewer systems. The heavy rainfall is impeding the sewer system's ability to function properly.
The National Weather Service reported that heavy rainfall was diminishing, but residual flooding will continue throughout Monday, especially in low-lying areas near rivers and streams.
Rain showers were forecast to possibly give way to partly sunny skies in the afternoon. Monday's forecasted high is 77 degrees.
The weekend storms created flash floods, forced evacuations and dredged up nightmares of flooding less than a year ago. The conditions weren't expected to let up until Monday evening or later, but no deaths or serious injuries had been reported.
While Sunday's storms weren't producing the damaging winds of Saturday, heavy rain fell widely across southern Wisconsin.
Police and emergency crews were kept busy with flooding over roadways, arching electric wires and several small fires associated with apparent lightening strikes.
Drivers were finding many roads covered with standing water while officials struggled to respond to all the calls for flooded basements and abandoned vehicles. Countless roads across Dane County had signs posted warning of standing water.
University Avenue was particularly hard hit by flooding. The intersection of Aberg Avenue and Packers was also closed for a time by flooding.
Homes along Clyde Gallagher Street on the city's east side were reporting flooded basements.
At one point, dispatchers said there was at least a 90-minute wait for tow trucks to answer calls for stalled vehicles.
By 9:15 p.m., water had flooded the Belle Isle area of Monona.
Dane County remained under a tornado watch until 11 p.m., although forecasters said the cooler weather Sunday reduced the possibility for the most severe storms.
Flooding tonight could create significant problems locally, and utility crews were also continuing to respond to reports of fallen trees, branches and downed electrical wires
"Another inch or two is likely, so basements and roadways are probably going to be flooding in Dane County," said meteorologist Andy Snyder of Weather Central.
Snyder said an additional three or four inches could fall tonight in some areas, contributing to waterlog woes from up to 4 inches of rain that has already fallen in the last 24 hours.
"With super saturated conditions like we have right now, it doesn't take much at all to cause more flooding," he said.
Gov. Jim Doyle at 9:50 p.m. Sunday declared a state of emergency for 29 Wisconsin counties due to severe storms and flooding.
The counties include: Adams, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Lafayette, LaCrosse, Marquette, Milwaukee, Monroe, Ozaukee, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Vernon, Washington, Waukesha, and Winnebago Counties.
The Governor's declaration allows Wisconsin's Adjutant General, Brigadier General Don Dunbar to activate National Guard troops to assist the affected counties as necessary. Six soldiers and three high profile vehicles were deployed Sunday evening to assist with evacuation of a mobile home park in Ontario, Vernon County. This was the only request but the National Guard's Joint Operations Center is activated to coordinate any additional request for support.
The State Emergency Operations Center has been activated since Saturday afternoon. Members of the Wisconsin State Patrol have been assessing road damage throughout southwestern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has been responding to requests from counties for personnel to assist with sandbagging and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been monitoring dams throughout Wisconsin.
The Governor's declaration is a result of the widespread flooding and severe storms that have occurred throughout the state causing damage to homes and businesses, washing out numerous roads and bringing down power lines and trees. There have been no reports of serious injuries or death.
The National Weather Service has most of the southern part of the state under a flood and flashflood warning. According to Weather Service reports, some highways and roadways in Vernon and Richland counties are closed or impassable due to flooding and washouts.
J. McLellan, spokesman for the Dane County Department of Emergency Management, said low lying areas of Dane County have been inundated with flood water, including swamped cars, accumulated debris from trees and washouts, and flooded basements.
More heavy rain are possible over the next several days.
McLellan urged county residents to use common sense.
"The big thing is to keep people out of the water," he said. "Flood water is not a swimming pool. You have no idea what kind of debris is in the water, or what the conditions are below the surface. Especially at night, you have no way of knowing what kind of danger there may be," he said.
Rural roads are particularly perilous. Washed out roadways can be covered by flood waters, he said.
According to the National Weather Service, most flood related drownings occur in automobiles.
"We've been fortunate that there haven't been any real injuries reported from these storms so far. We'd like to keep it that way," he said.
Dane County's Department of Emergency Management was requesting that local residents report any storm or flood damage to their local municipality. Residents are encouraged to document damage with photographs or video.
Individuals in need of supplies to fight flooding are also asked to contact their local municipalities.
The Badger Chapter of the American Red Cross has opened a shelter at Wright Middle School, 1717 Fish Hatchery Road. The shelter is available for anyone who needs a warm, dry place to stay.
The Department of Emergency Management is asking everyone to be especially careful and heed these safety precautions:
* Do not attempt to walk through flowing water.
* Keep children out of flood waters and away from culverts.
* Drive slowly and with extra caution. Beware of the possibility of dangerous debris accumulated in roadways. Do not drive into standing water.
* Travel with a cell phone.
* If you are driving and become trapped in rising or high water, stay in your vehicle and call 911.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Dane County Department of Emergency Management reported that many area roadways were impassable or obstructed Monday morning due to flood damage and accumulation of debris. Emergency personnel were responding to downed trees, water on roads, electrical outages and downed wires.
Staff/news services — 6/09/2008 4:43 pm
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/290362
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