Underwater!

We're not at all unique in this, as the American Midwest gets flooded all the time, but my town is currently under a state of emergency after receiving between six and 10 inches of rain in 72 hours, from thunderstorm after thunderstorm. The local river, the Fox, is one-and-a-third feet above its previous record high mark, and numerous bridges and roadways in the area are closed.

My house is safe because I live high on a hill, although my son and I were out in the dark and the rain the other night, baling water out of our window-wells with buckets. I lost a bunch of stuff in the basement (including some prints and negatives, which I should have known better than to store down there). If you want to see some spectacular video, however, go here and click on the blue "Video" bar about six inches down the page on the left-hand side. (Note that the video isn't stable; the provider is updating it periodically. If I can find a more stable URL I'll add it below.) The scene is Lake Delton in the Wisconsin Dells. The lake rose so high that it burst its banks and carved a new channel through to the Wisconsin River—right through a major highway. The rush of water was so powerful that it has drained six feet off the entire lake in just a matter of hours. The lake might never recover. And the houses—well, you can see from the video. Dramatic stuff.

Our best wishes to our friends, neighbors, and countrymen who are contending with the weather.

____________________

Mike

UPDATE: Here's a map showing what happened at Lake Delton, a manmade 267-acre lake lined with vacation homes and resorts in the Wisconsin Dells area. The lake rose so high that it essentially cut a new channel to the Wisconsin river, obliterating a stretch of Highway A—and then draining the entire lake in short order.

And here is a more stable YouTube URL showing an entire house being swept away in the process, one of several caught on video.

Lake Delton two years ago (photographer unknown)

Aerial photograph by Benny Sieu showing the breach between the lake (on the left) and the river (on the right). Note the Delton Lake dam in the lower left, which created the lake originally. When water started to spill over the top of the dam, it was sandbagged; water later began to flow over the land bridge between the lake and the river. The land was so soaked by incessant rains it gave way, creating the raging flood channel seen in the videos that swept away whole houses. The dam held.

The owners of these two houses were reportedly not allowed to purchase flood insurance, because there was "no danger" of flooding. Photo by Joe Koshollek.

This is Lake Delton Monday afternoon after the approximately 600 million gallon lake drained into the Wisconsin River. Photo by Joe Koshollek.

Closer to home: a motorist tries to cross a flooded street in the city of Waukesha despite being warned not to. Improbably, he made it. This is just a couple of miles from where I live. Photo by Allen Fredrickson.

By Stuart Carlson, cartoonist for the local paper.

Comments

[Paul Kramarchyk]

Underwater!....... Unbelievable. I’m getting nervous. Seriously nervous. Seems like the entire mid-west has been relentlessly pounded this year. Tornados, floods, more tornados, more floods, havoc. Much of that part of our country is farms. Farms = food. I can’t afford gas. Shortly I won’t be able to afford carrots and lettuce. Mercy!

paul kramarchyk
Barkhamsted, Connecticut

[Ken Tanaka]

Yes, I was watching this video this afternoon. Wow, if that's not footage of someone's worst nightmare I don't know what is.

It sure stormed terrifically down here in Chicago this past weekend (as my still-drying shoes will confirm). But Wisconsin really got clobbered.

We'll be visiting up there next weekend so be sure to dry the Milwaukee area out in the next few days, Mike.

[Bill Mitchell]

God Bless those houses, and all who sail within them.

[Stephen Gillette]

Tragedy is like real estate: it's all local. We aren't shaking or burning (at the moment) here in Southern California, and we won't likely see much rain until next winter. But your tribulations seem close at hand, because you are "somebody we know."

Stay up on the hill and take good care...

[JohnBrewton]

My heart goes out to all those people. Natural disasters seem all more the norm nowadays. Here on the South Carolina coast we are constantly on the alert for another Hurricane Hugo. All you can do is be prepared to the best of your ability.

[dyathink]

my condolences to all who lost property..fortunately the lake had a river to flow into and didn't pour into a residential area where losses would have been far worse. We just went through a tropical depression in the Pacific that left millions of dollars in damages in its wake. People lost their homes all over Costa Rica and flooding was horrendous. Many were stranded on the roads for days due to landslides. That depression turned into tropical storm Alma as it moved northward and then overland. I'm wondering if it's not part of the weather phenomenon that is wrecking havoc in the Midwest. Stay dry, Mike..

[Chad Thompson]

I seem to remember a similar situation when I was living in Iowa in about 1993. I made several trips (50 miles each way) to Des Moines to sand bag around peoples homes in a desperate attempt to save something, anything. It's too bad it takes a natural disaster to bring out the selflessness in people (myself included). This incident just prompts me to be a less selfish person. Thanks for the reminder Mike.

[Christopher Lane]

Take care Mike.

Chris

[Peter Hovmand]

Sorry about your negatives. Glad you still have your house, Mike. I think there will be more extreme weather the next couple of years, probably because of global heating affecting the weather system. Best thing is to be prepared, and to help your neighbours. Second best thing might be to do some extreme photography ... somebody has to do it.

[Jared Guess]

It's been crazy around here. I live next door to you in New Berlin and the worst we are having are flooded farm fields and basements and its hard to imagine what's happening so close to home. Good to hear your house is in good shape, I also live on a hill and we haven't had as much as a drop of water in the basement. I feel terrible watching other homes get completely washed away. Helps me put everything in perspective.

Take care and try to stay dry.

[Rob Young]

This has even made the news in Melbourne, Australia. I hope you and all your friends and family are doing OK. Try to stay dry and keep photographing.