Flash Flood in Crawford County, Wisconsin

Locally heavy rain produced flash flooding across portions of Crawford County. Water covered roads in the Steuben area. Mudslides occurred that closed U.S. Highway 61 and State Highway 60 in the southeast part of the county. Other mudslides closed State Highway 35 between Lynxville and Prairie du Chien. Numerous streets and basements were flooded in Prairie du Chien. Homes and businesses were evacuated in Gays Mills and Stueben ahead of the expected flooding along the Kickapoo River.

A nearly stationary band of thunderstorms developed across southwest Wisconsin during the evening of June 21st. These storms remained in place until another line of storms pushed in from the west during the early morning hours of the 22nd. Rainfall amounts exceeded six inches with flash flooding reported in parts of Crawford, Grant and Richland Counties. The area in and around Boscobel (Grant County) was hit extremely hard by the flooding. 650 homes were impacted by the flooding with two dozen families displaced, most homes had basements full of water with some having the water reach the first level. Roads in the region had numerous washouts and some bridges were blown out. Rescue crews had to save 54 canoeists who became stranded on the Wisconsin River due to rising waters.