Flood in Vernon County, Wisconsin

Flooding continued along many creeks, streams and rivers. Law enforcement officials reported numerous roads and bridges were either washed out or still under water. All or portions of highways still closed included Highway 35 from Stoddard northward, as well as Highway 131 from Viola to La Farge and from the intersection of Highway 56 and 82 to Viola.

A warm front lifting northward into Iowa triggered round after round of thunderstorms leading to excessive rainfall across southwest Wisconsin during the evening and overnight hours of August 18-19. Total rainfall amounts of 10 to 15 inches were common. Specific reports from weather observers included 10.12 inches and 9.73 inches in Readstown and Viroqua (Vernon County) respectively. Rain had also fallen earlier in the day. Due to the excessive rainfall, widespread and significant flash flooding occurred. Numerous roads and bridges were washed out, houses collapsed due to mudslides and hundreds of homes had flooded basements. Amazingly, there were no fatalities reported. This was in spite of reports from law enforcement and fire department officials of rescuing people in stranded vehicles. Damage attributed to the heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding was estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Crawford, La Crosse, Richland and Vernon counties were declared federal disaster areas.