Story originally printed in the Westby Times or online at www.westbytimes.com
Published - Monday, June 16, 2008
Severe storms ravage area
Hell may have no fury, but Mother Nature sure does after she ravaged Vernon County, in Southwestern Wisconsin, with a second round of devastating floods in less than 10 months.
Last fall flash floods created millions of dollars in damage on August 18 throughout the Coulee Region and hit the Vernon County communities of Coon Valley and Chaseburg and Gays Mills in Crawford County especially hard. The damage was extensive leaving the counties declared a federal disaster area, which freed up FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Assistance) funding for residents hardest hit by the storms. Many of those same residents were still waiting for FEMA payout when another round of flooding plummeted the region again on Saturday, June 8, 2008.
The rain started falling shortly after noon on Saturday and continued for six hours straight with only small periodic breaks. By the time the clouds broke the rain gauges were overflowing, just like the banks of the Coon Creek and Kickapoo rivers.
The storms rolled in like a black wall of fury sending emergency personnel storm watching to every end of the county before the massive storm system produced locally heavy rainfall in excess of inches per hour, spurring confirmed tornadoes near Liberty Pole and Barre Mills, sharp lightning and thunder rumbling in the sky.
As the rain fell, fields became lakes and creeks became rivers overflowing their banks and forcing the evacuation of residents living in the communities of Ontario, La Farge, Viola and Readstown along the Kickapoo River.
Residents living in and around area county dams were also evacuated after water levels rose beyond safe markers and concerns were raised about the strength of the structures which were severely compromised last August and still remain under repair.
The fear of rising water and the possibility of flash flooding couldn’t detour the hundreds of people who attended the annual Snowflake Ski and Golf Club ticket raffle in Timber Coulee on Saturday, June 7. The creek running through the valley was already overflowing its banks at 8 p.m. in the evening, but diehard ticket holders were ready to sink or swim as they waited to hear if they were winners or losers at the event. Club members stayed in communication with members of the Westby-Christiana Fire Department throughout the evening and they were ordered to vacate the building at 12:30 p.m.
Damage to the Westby Rod and Gun building was significant after flood waters began creeping in the doors and filling the rooms by the early morning hours on Sunday, June 8. Flood water left the Snowflake golf course covered with water and the newly replaced bridges damaged. Campers who were utilizing the valley grounds, and refused to leave the area, found themselves knee deep and sinking fast by morning.
The heavily popular trout streams along County Trunk P looked like lakes instead of streams and damage to the area is bound to adversely affect local tourism trade for months to come. As the water raged downhill and into Coon Valley residents were busy trying to stop water from entering their basements, many of which had just replaced carpeting and entire rooms of furniture after they were damaged in August.
Sightseers set in awe along USH 14/61 in Coon Valley as they looked on with sadness at Veteran’s Memorial Park, where just two weeks prior the community had held a beautiful Memorial Day program for hundreds of people. By Sunday morning the banks of the Coon Creek were rising at a rate of two feet per hour and by Sunday evening the water levels were only inches below the highway bridge.
Flood waters covered the walking path and banks of the creek to the edge of the park gazebo and just below the Veteran’s Memorial. The high water forced the cancellation of scheduled baseball games in the park on Sunday, part of the annual Coon Valley American Legion “Fun in the Park” fund-raiser, after water levels buried the outfield and infield underwater. Thankfully the water had not entered the newly redone concession stand as of press time.
Hell or high water may have canceled ball games, but it wasn’t going to detour Legion members from charcoaling 700 chicken dinners, although they had their wading boots close by and were keeping a pretty close eye on the rising water levels right out their back door.
Village of Coon Valley residents who suffered sewage backup in their homes last fall were relieved after a recently installed telephone warning relay system informed village employee, John Langaard, about a lift station failure during the storm warding off potential sewage backup. Employee Sandy Rundahl, who takes great personal pride in the park, waded in waist high water on Saturday to retrieve newly purchased garbage cans and picnic tables from being destroyed along with the helping hands of J.D. and Amy Dumale.
As of Monday a large tree was wedged under the Coon Creek highway bridge, but water levels were too high to remove the debris. The creek was currently being repaired by Lepke Construction from damages incurred last fall. Heavy equipment being used to repair last year’s damage was moved to high ground on Saturday before the water levels rose above flood stage.
As the water raged further south the village of Chaseburg prepared for the worst. Like the creek in Coon Valley repairs were underway along the water tributary to prevent excessive water damage and overflows in the future. That work was halted after heavy earth-moving equipment was stranded in flood waters along the creek when the banks overflowed on Saturday. By the time the water flowed into Chaseburg barricade signs were already being lined up. The village of Chaseburg and State Highway 162 South were underwater by Sunday and traffic was being detoured to higher ridge roads.
After the loss of numerous homes and businesses last August, village officials and employees found solace in knowing that although the flood waters overflowed the creek banks for the second time in less than a year that this time village residents were safe and residing on higher ground when the devastation struck. Chaseburg residents are still waiting for financial closure from FEMA from 2007 and are hoping this latest round of damage doesn’t delay their payout any longer.
Chaseburg residents, felt like castaways in 2007 when no one from local emergency management organizations relayed evacuation orders to the community in time for safe departure from homes and businesses in the path of destruction. According to Village Clerk Linda DeGarmo, that is not the case in 2008 and Vernon County Emergency Management, has been working closely with the village of Chaseburg and providing assistance as needed.
“Although Lower Chaseburg is still closed to traffic and water is over the bridge, we have been in close contact with Vernon County Emergency Management and they have been assisting us. The good thing is no one is living in the worst hit area,” DeGarmo said.
Chaseburg residents residing on the edge of the flood plain were evacuated safely from their homes on Saturday and all lift stations have been operating properly. Having fended for themselves through most of the last disaster, Chaseburg village residents, officials and employees have become well-groomed at handling adverse situations on their own and many of them were relieved to know that the rescue boat they were promised in August of 2007, didn’t sink, and is safely rescuing residents on the other end of the county.
City of Westby residents should be counting their lucky stars that they reside on a ridge, where the brunt of the damage was in the form of water-logged basements and flooded streets. As of press time the utility lift stations, although overworked, held and sewage back-up did not become an issue. City of Westby residents and businesses also did not lose electrical power outage like most surrounding communities.
Rainfall totals ranged from 8-9 inches across the county over a 24-hour period. Skies cleared on Monday and Tuesday allowing flood waters to recede, but an unstable weather pattern could produce more rain by the weekend.
All stories copyright 2006 Westby Times and other attributed sources.