Southwest Wisconsin gets up to 10 inches of rain; Doyle declares state of emergency

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Gov. Jim Doyle has declared a state of emergency in 29 counties with severe thunderstorms and flooding over the weekend.

It allows the National Guard to provide help in the southern half of Wisconsin.

Sunday night, six soldiers and three military vehicles helped evacuate two dozen people from a mobile home park at Ontario in Vernon County.

Almost 10 inches of rain fell there in the past two days, forcing numerous rivers over their banks.

The Kickapoo River may crest today (Monday), 6 feet above its flood stage.

That’s the same place where massive floods hit last August and folks who just repaired that damage were hit again.

Evacuations also took place in a 150-mile stretch from Racine to Juneau County. Towns like Viola and La Farge were unreachable once again.

No deaths or serious injuries have been reported in Wisconsin.

In the Milwaukee area, a disaster hotline stayed busy.

Cudahy alone reported $2.3 million in damage.

Waist-high water postponed Sunday’s graduation at Franklin High School. Schools are closed in South Milwaukee today and there’s at least a chance for even more rain statewide.

Forecasters say the cold front that caused the storms remains stalled and it won’t move until a burgeoning front in the Plains pushes it away, perhaps Tuesday.

Seven tornadoes were reported Saturday.

The National Weather Service confirmed two of them yesterday in La Crosse and Columbia counties.

The latter tornado spent 18 minutes on the ground near Pardeeville, causing an eight-mile path of damage with winds up to 120 mph.

Five people suffered minor injuries in that storm.

Tags: wisconsin, news, flooding