Flood in Monroe County, Wisconsin

After the initial round of flash flooding, the lingering flood waters continued to cause problems across Monroe County into Friday, July 21st. Thirty-nine families across the county had to be evacuated and another 56 were affected by the flooding. State Highway 131 in the far southern part of the county was closed because of flooding along the Kickapoo River and State Highway 27 between Leon and Sparta was also closed. Several township roads were flooded along the La Crosse and Baraboo Rivers. A total of 10 state or county highways were closed because of the flooding. One home sustained major damage and another eight suffered minor damage.

After a round of severe thunderstorms moved across western Wisconsin, a second round of thunderstorms developed over much of the same area during the late evening of July 19th into the early morning of the 20th. These storms produced torrential rains with rainfall totals of 6 to 8 inches common from northern Buffalo County southeast into Richland and Grant Counties. Arcadia (Trempealeau County) was hit the hardest as all roads into town were closed and water rescues had to be performed. Residents of the town of Greenfield (La Crosse County) had to be evacuated from flood waters along Mormon Creek. Some of these evacuations had to be made using a boat. A mudslide covered part of State Highway 37 north of Alma (Buffalo County), flood waters from the Kickapoo River closed State Highways 33 and 131 in Ontario (Vernon County) and flood waters from the Pine River closed State Highway 80 north of Richland Center (Richland County). The Governor of Wisconsin declared a state of emergency for Buffalo, Crawford, Grant, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau and Vernon Counties. A federal disaster declaration was made for Buffalo, Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau and Vernon Counties.