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National Guard to aid Jefferson County
The Wisconsin National Guard will be deployed Monday evening to flood-ridden Jefferson County to help local authorities control traffic.
Water on the county's two major rivers, the Rock and the Crawfish, continues to rise, and numerous roads and streets are closed, noted Jefferson County Sheriff Paul Milbrath.
Milbrath said the National Guard will be used to assist in monitoring checkpoints on roads and bridges in the city of Jefferson and the village of Johnson Creek.
"Flooding has closed so many roads and bridges that the county's normal traffic routes are devastated," Milbrath said. "There is only one open bridge connecting the north and south ends of the county and one open bridge connecting the east and west sides of the county. Trips that are normally one mile in length now involve detours of as much as 20 or more miles," the sheriff said.
Milbrath said the county forces and its volunteers are wearing down "and the National Guard's assistance will prevent us from overtaxing this valuable resource."
Milbrath and other county officials met with Adjutant General Don Dunbar Monday and received assurances that the Guard would deploy a contingent of soldiers to help the county. Among those meeting with Dunbar were Milbrath, county Board Chairman Sharon Schmeling, and county Emergency Management Director Donna Haugom.
Schmeling said county officials are working with the state as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency to obtain a presidential disaster declaration which could trigger federal aid.
