Get your copy of our weekly print products at any of these convenient locations.

Flood damage over $470 million as water slowly recedes

The Capital Times  —  6/23/2008 7:08 am

Floodwaters on rivers in southern Wisconsin are slowly receding from record levels, but damage assessments from the massive flooding continue to rise, now close to the half-billion dollar mark.

The latest initial damage assessments gathered by Wisconsin Emergency Management in the 30 counties declared to be in a state of emergency by Gov. Jim Doyle show $470,533,951 in damages reported. That includes more than $203 million in residential damage, over $146 million in crop damage, $75 million in municipal damage and $45 million in business damage.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency completed individual assistance preliminary damage assessments in the 22 counties declared in a state of disaster and continues its public assistance assessments of municipal infrastructure damage in Richland, Winnebago, Sauk, Iowa and Dodge counties Monday. Other counties will be included later in the week.

A new disaster recovery center opens at noon Monday in Dodge County at the Public Safety Building in Juneau at 128 Cross St.

Six other disaster recovery centers remain open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Portage, Columbus, Soldiers Grove, Viroqua, Reedsburg and Milwaukee.

Victims planning to go to a disaster recovery center are asked to register with FEMA before heading to a center by calling 800-621-3362 or registering online at www.fema.gov.

Workers who are unemployed because of the storms, flooding and tornadoes that have raked the area since June could be eligible for disaster unemployed assistance, a FEMA-funded program administered by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

The unemployment assistance program is also available for the self-employed. More information is available online at www.fema.gov or emergencymanagement.wi.gov.

Food assistance is also available for flood victims in Columbia, Crawford, Milwaukee, Racine, Richland, Sauk and Vernon Counties, with residents having until Friday to apply for aid. Applications can be found online at dhfs.wisconsin.gov/FoodShare/flood/.

Road closings are still scattered throughout southern Wisconsin, with Wisconsin 22 still shut down in Montello in Marquette County. Department of Transportation engineers said Sunday the road leading to a bridge on Wisconsin 22 in Montello needs to be repaired so the highway will stay closed until the road is fixed, resulting in long detours for local residents to get from one end of town to the other.

The swollen Rock and Crawfish Rivers in Jefferson and Rock Counties are still causing major headaches, with both streams still in major flood stages at points monitored by the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service of the National Weather Service.

The Rock River at Indianford south of Edgerton in Rock County was at 18.28 feet at 4 a.m. Monday, only .05 feet below the crest of 18.33 feet set Friday.

The Rock River at Afton south of Janesville in Rock County was at 13.46 feet early Monday, only .05 feet below the high water mark of 13.51 feet set early Saturday.

In Jefferson County, the Rock River was at 15.04 feet at 4 a.m. Monday in the city of Jefferson, more than 6 inches below the 15.64 feet record five days ago.

The Crawfish River at Milford in Jefferson County northeast of Lake Mills has dropped 1.24 feet from the crest of 13.59 feet set six days ago as of 4 a.m. Monday. It's at 12.35 feet.

The Baraboo River in Sauk County has really come down the past 10 days. It's now at only 3.3 feet, more than 10 feet below the record 13.69 feet set June 13.

The Capital Times  —  6/23/2008 7:08 am