By Ryan Spoehr
Staff writer
Heavy rainfall poured onto southeastern Wisconsin last week, and while southern Jefferson and Waukesha counties didn’t have significant issues, that could not also be said for neighbors to the south.
Parts of southern Walworth County and western parts of Racine and Kenosha counties were left in record-shattering flood levels trying to clean up and salvage property after rainfall hit the region late July 11 and early the next morning, Floods shut down most Walworth County roads, but the most significant damage hit Burlington and the surrounding area, leaving the city under 16.5 of water in some parts as the Fox River crested.
In Palmyra and Whitewater, local officials agree that if residents ever are in an area that is hit by rainfall that leads to significant rainfall, the best thing to do is stay away. If any homes have been affected because of the flood with resulting damage, then it is important that homeowners do a search for ‘residential restoration near me‘ so they are prepared and can get any areas fixed quickly when the floods have dried out.
“I’m certainly not an expert, but if there is water across an entire roadway, you don’t know what’s underneath,” Whitewater Police Captain Dan Meyer said.
Palmyra Public Safety Director James Small said the unknown is especially dangerous. “For instance, what if a manhole is blown off. When water is that high and the pressure is that high, it’s hard to see if a manhole has blown off.”
“You have to realize how powerful the water is,” Meyer said. “Even at six inches, your car can get washed away.”
He said that can be an issue for pedestrian traffic as well, including children, particularly when people decide to swim in the water.
“If you don’t know if those manholes are open, that can be really dangerous,” Small said.
The unknown is a dangerous factor altogether, Small said, and swimming in the water has other dangers.
“It’s just runoff from somewhere. You don’t know where it comes from. It could be from a farm, or there could be chemicals in it. You just don’t know,” Small said.
Small said he has observed people trying to go through large amounts of standing water before, and it for the most part does not fare well for the driver.
“Usually things that get people get themselves into trouble by doing in a flood are things related to going through it, and when they try to drive through it they don’t know how deep it is. The next thing they know it’s six feet deep and they get stuck,” Small said. “I’ve seen enough bad things happen with flooding. They must think they will be able to get through it, but the best thing to do is stay away from it. You don’t know how deep it’s going to be.”
Meyer said drivers should keep a slow speed if they cannot access an alternate route during flooding.
“If you absolutely have to go through it, make sure you slow down enough to make sure you don’t hydroplane because that’s when you can get washed off the road,” Meyer said. “However, I’m stressing not to go through it.”
The flooding closed four bridges in Burlington and caused the closure of Highway 50 in Kenosha County along the Fox River. Thousands were left without power in the Burlington and Waterford areas following the flooding. It also caused a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Burlington because of the extremely high water level.
Gov. Scott Walker issued a state of emergency for Walworth, Racine and Kenosha counties late last week.
“So far, for something this big, not only is it remarkable there has not been a fatality, but there hasn’t been (a) serious injury,” Walker told reporters in a July 13 press conference in Burlington.
Lt. Todd Neumann of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release throughout his county on July 13 announcing that Walworth County Emergency Management had established a hotline for residents and business owners to report damage from the storms and flooding. That number is (262) 741-7700. Callers need to provide names of property owners, a brief description, an estimate of damage and a phone number.
“Emergency management officials will follow up with callers as soon as practical,” Neumann wrote in the release.
On its Facebook page on July 14, the Whitewater Fire Department made a post announcing that MABAS Division 103 reported to Burlington to help with the flood relief efforts. Small said that he was keeping an eye on the situation in case help was needed from his department.
