Flood — Sauk, Wisconsin

2018-08-29 to 2018-08-30 · near La Valle, Sauk, Wisconsin

Event narrative

Flood levels continued to rapidly rise on the Baraboo River with near record crests reached in La Valle during the late morning hours on August 29th, and near record in Reedsburg late in the afternoon on August 29th. Evacuations continued in the early morning hours in La Valle on August 29th, while 10-15 persons were evacuated during the early morning hours on August 30th in Rock Springs and North Freedom. Many state and county highways, and bridges, were closed in the aforementioned communities near and along the Baraboo River. The Baraboo River also began to flood farther downstream in the Baraboo area. Other roads, bridges, and lowland areas across northern Sauk County remained flooded and closed from the heavy rains of the last several days. Overall, 116 homes sustained minor flood damage from late August into early September mainly in the communities of La Valle, Reedsburg, Rock Springs, and North Freedom. Many businesses also sustained minor flood damage in these communities.

Wider weather episode

A line of severe thunderstorms produced widespread wind damage and 18 brief tornadoes across mainly Marquette, Green Lake, Fond du Lac, northern Dodge, and Sheboygan Counties. Flash flooding and river flooding also occurred in several of these areas, especially the Baraboo River in northern Sauk County. The Baraboo River reached major to record flood stage late August into September after 10 to 12 inches of rain over the Baraboo River basin the last two weeks of August.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.6398, -90.0298)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 782371. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.