The village of Viola was surrounded by flood waters due to heavy rains Sunday night.
Rising water in creeks and rivers has led the Vernon County Emergency Goverment Office to ask area residents to stay off roads if possible. There are more than 50 roads in the county that have been closed due to rising flood water.
Vernon County had received nine inches of rain from Saturday, at 11 a.m., to Sunday at 6 p.m.
Linda Nederlo, the public information officer for the Vernon County Emergency Operations Center, said while Viola is surrounded by flood water, Richland County officials can access the village with emergency vehicles if necessary.
According to the National Weather Service, as of 5:45 p.m., the Kickapoo River had reached 19.06 feet at Viola -- that's five feet above what's considered "flood stage" for the river. It's the second highest flood in history in Viola. In the Viola flood of 1978, the river stage reached 21 feet.
Nederlo said that no injuries had been reported due to flooding, although there had been numerous evacuations.
They included the evacuation of trailer parks in De Soto and Ontario, the south portion of the village of La Farge and the residents living below the Yttri-Primmer dam in central Vernon County. A shelter had been set up at the La Farge High School for residents evacuated in that village.
Vernon County officials have called for heavy equipment from the National Guard at Fort McCoy to help with the evacuation at Ontario, Nederlo said.
The Ontario Library and Ontario Baptist Church are being set up as shelters for residents being displaced due to flooding in the Ontario trailer park.
Many residents reported flooding basements in Viroqua and streets in several places were flooded.
"Residents of the city of Viroqua have been asked not to travel at all due to all the water," Nederlo said. "We've asked the television stations in La Crosse to warn people that they shouldn't travel into Vernon County."
Travel through Chaseburg was stopped all of Sunday due to flooding of the Coon Creek. Road washouts, mudslides and falling rocks from steep hillsides were widely reported. Nederlo said a mudslide was reported south of Genoa near the Dairyland Power Cooperative Electric Plant.Nederlo said the Vernon County Emergency Operations Center was prepared to remain open all of Sunday evening to help coordinate efforts to prevent injuries during the flooding.
While the Yttri-Primmer dam was leaking, there were no other reports of problems at the county's other dams as of 6 p.m.
"The dams are holding, but they're filling with water," Nederlo said.
Emergency management personnel were planning to keep checking the dams through the night. Vernon County has more than 20 flood control dams, many of which suffered damage in the flood of August 2007. Some of that damage has not yet been repaired due to both a lack of time and money.

