Flood in Rock County, Wisconsin

The Rock River at Afton rose to Moderate flood stage. Floodwaters affected Riverside Park and several blocks of Joseph and Charles Streets on the north side of Janesville and South River Road on the south side of Janesville. Traxler Park off of Memorial Drive in Janesville was flooded, including a boat ramp, and the bleachers were surrounded by water. Floodwaters surrounded a home on South Christian Rd on the east side of the river and another across the river and along W Bass Creek Rd in the Afton area. Numerous secondary roads in the Afton area were closed to traffic, and a portion of the railroad tracks near W Tripp Rd flooded. There was extensive lowland and agricultural land flooding in the Afton and Janesville areas.

There was extensive river flooding along the Wisconsin River, Fox River, and Rock River in southern Wisconsin in April. The river levels were above normal after 5 inches of rain fell over the 5 days, and then another episode of heavy rain of 3 to 5 inches occurred on April 17th. In addition, vegetation was still fairly dormant so the grass was not able to soak up much of the rainfall.