WHEN MOTHER NATURE COMES CALLING, SHE DOES NOT CARE IF YOU SURVIVE OR NOT. SO, SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP AND MOVE ON.
MIDDLETON, WI —
Damage from the historic rainfalls that drenched Dane County, Wisconsin in the past two weeks have topped $154 million.
County officials estimate 1,544 residences were affected by the flooding, including five that were destroyed and 302 with major damage.
Insurance covered only about 2 percent of the $78.3 million in residential damage that occurred between Aug. 17 and Sept. 3, according to an estimate submitted to Wisconsin Emergency Management.
The flooding also caused more than $39 million in damage to public infrastructure and buildings.
And more than two weeks after a storm that dropped more than 14 inches of rain on the western part of the county, at least a dozen businesses are still closed or operating out of temporary housing and others are working to repair millions of dollars of damage.
The city of Middleton estimated Wednesday that total costs have exceeded $45 million, including $35 million to commercial properties and $4.7 million to residences.
Those damage totals are likely to climb as recovery continues.
“The important part about these numbers is they’re fluid,” said J. McLellan, spokesman for Dane County Emergency Management. “It probably has changed by now. … These numbers are the beginning of a process.”
In Middleton, some businesses, including the Fairfield Inn and Suites and Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse, remain closed as owners work to repair damages.
The nearby Costco, where dozens of employees and customers spent a night stranded in the warehouse as about a foot of water covered the floors, reopened after eight days and incurred an estimated $1 million in property damage, according to the city.
Other companies have found ways to keep the doors open, even if those doors are somewhere else.
About 700 employees of UW Health are working at other locations as the organization works to repair an estimated $2 million in damage to its administrative building.
TDS Telecom lost the contents of a warehouse and field service center in Middleton as well as 10 vehicles, with an estimated $4 million in damage, according to the city.
But the company relocated workers to offices in Verona and Waunakee and brought in crews from other parts of the state to restore service to its customers, said public relations manager DeAnne Boegli.
“We believe we’re on a good track,” Boegli said.
After days of searching, the ANiU Salon and Spa reopened Thursday in the Phenix Salon Suites on Mineral Point Road and Nail Spa Plus on Whitney Way in Madison.
Manager Tonya Cramer said she expects to be in the temporary location for at least a couple of months.
The Primrose School of Middleton has been holding classes for its 130 students in the Blackhawk Church while working to replace drywall and disinfect the 12,000-square-foot building, which was inundated with floodwater and sewage.
“We’re doing everything we possibly can to get the school back open for our families,” said owner Amanda Kienbaum.
Gilda’s Club incurred what could be $1 million in damage when about 400,000 gallons of water poured into the basement of its clubhouse at 7907 UW Health Court.
“It was pretty much a big swimming pool down here,” said Josh Norton, senior water mitigation manager for Northstar Restoration Services.
Norton said it took about four days to pump the water out, and his workers pulled about a dozen truckloads of damaged building materials from the lower levels, which he was attempting to dry Wednesday with 17 dehumidifiers and about 130 fans.
Executive director Lannia Stenz said the water also destroyed eight furnaces and an elevator.
“But we’re coming back,” she said. “It’s a process and will take us months.”
In the meantime, the cancer support nonprofit group is holding meetings in nine off-site locations and is moving into temporary office space provided by Exact Sciences and Alphagraphics.
Stenz said the clubhouse had flood insurance, but Gilda’s Club is trying to raise money to cover the $100,000 deductible and any costs that exceed the $1 million cap.
She said renovation plans will include efforts to protect the clubhouse from future flooding.
“We’ve been around for a decade,” Stenz said. “And we plan to be around for decades more.”
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As dry weather finally nears, waterlogged Wisconsin reports staggering 3-week rain totals
Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
September 6, 2018
Many areas of waterlogged Wisconsin remained flooded Wednesday after more rain fell overnight, closing roads and schools and continuing to disrupt lives.
Damage from repeated rains and flooding in Dane County alone were estimated Wednesday at more than $154 million.
In Monroe County, someone impersonating a state Department of Natural Resources official went door to door in the town of Portland on Monday warning residents to evacuate immediately because of a pending dam failure though there was no danger of a dam failing.
And it was still raining Wednesday afternoon into the evening over much of central and southern Wisconsin.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued maps outlining estimated precipitation statistics and the numbers are astounding. Between the first flooding that started Aug. 16 through Wednesday, Mauston has gotten almost 19 inches of precipitation, Montello 18 inches and Port Washington, 14.12.
Other rainfall totals for that time period: West Bend, 12.98 inches; Tomah, 12.77; Viroqua, 12.54; Juneau, 11.78; Wautoma, 11.63; Fond du Lac, 11.53; Prairie du Chien, 10.76; Wisconsin Dells, 10.66; Madison, 10.37; Monroe, 10.15.
Those figures include rainfall of as much as 6 inches that fell Tuesday night and early Wednesday in southwestern, west-central and northwestern sections of Wisconsin.
More than 2,700 calls have come into the 211 phone line for flooding damage.
While several school districts canceled classes Tuesday, on what was supposed to be the first day of the school year, Montello schools remain closed through this week and Richland School District in Richland Center told students and staff members to stay home again Wednesday. School officials cited flooded and closed roads on school bus routes as well as worries about homes threatened by rising waters in their decisions to cancel classes.
An American Red Cross shelter was opened at the Richland Center Community Center because of significant flooding in the city and flash floods affecting several small communities in Richland County.
Fiber optic lines washed out from flooding in Richland County knocked out cellphone service Wednesday for some customers, the Sheriff's Department reported. Verizon technicians were working to restore service. Calls to 911 from Verizon phones were working.
Wisconsin National Guardsmen finished a sandbagging mission along I-39/90/94 in Columbia County and remain on standby.
Wisconsin will get $1.5 million in federal emergency relief transportation funding to help repair flood-damaged roads throughout the state, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) announced late Wednesday.
In Monroe County, a resident called the Sheriff's Department to report a man in civilian clothes was knocking on doors on Monday in the town of Portland claiming to work for the DNR. He told residents to flee because a dam was about to collapse.
A sheriff's spokeswoman said Wednesday that though two dams in the county did collapse last week, the condition of all other dams in the county was unchanged and there were no safety concerns.
Officials "would not go door to door unless it's a (DNR) warden which would be on request of emergency management. They would be in uniform and have identification and a badge," said Amy Meimann of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department.
Meimann didn't know how many homes were visited by the DNR impersonator. There were no burglaries or looting associated with the impersonator.
In Madison, all three Lake Monona boat launches remained closed and officials warned homeowners not to remove sandbags since flooding on swollen lakes and streams is expected to continue for several days.
Dane County Emergency Management submitted a formal estimate of flooding damage to the state and the numbers starkly revealed the devastation. Residential damage was estimated at more than $78 million with residents reporting that only 2 percent of that damage was insured.
A total of 1,544 Dane County residences were affected — five homes were destroyed, 302 homes sustained major damage, 857 with minor damage and 380 affected by flooding.
Dane County business damage was estimated at $37 million with 17 businesses sustaining major flooding damage. Local and county government damage and expenses associated with the flooding totaled $39 million including $2.2 million for clearing debris, almost $7 million for emergency response and repairs to roads, $10 million in losses to public utilities and $8 million in losses to public buildings and equipment.
Fortunately, the National Weather Service forecast for the rest of the week, beginning Thursday, is for dry conditions and mostly sunny skies with high temperatures in the 70s.
Private property owners should report flood and storm damage by dialing 211 or (877) 947-2211.