FLOOD CAUSES SURREAL SCENES
Friday, September 24th, 2010 -- 11:46 AM
Just some general observations about Thursday's flooding.Was this the worst flooding the area has seen for awhile? I think so. I remember a few years ago (2000, maybe) we had some heavy spring rains cause the Goose Creek area of Neillsville to flood out some residential neighborhoods.
I'll never forget interviewing an area resident who said he was sitting in his kitchen and saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a dog house floating by.
During a brief let-up in the rain yesterday afternoon, I was one of a small crowd gathered to witness a raging O?Neil Creek here in Neillsville.
It didn?t look anything like a ?creek? as it nearly reached the bottom of the Grand Avenue bridge.
"It's just terrible. It's just massive flooding," observed Marilyn King of Christie.
Larry Nauertz lives just a few steps from the bridge. The creek had already overtaken his entire yard.
"Lots of water," he laughed when asked to describe his backyard.
He said the water had just reached his house and was about where it was during the serious flooding back in 1993. The creek is usually about 10-feet wide at that point; yesterday it was closer to 300-feet wide.
At around 11:30 p.m., I decided to drive back into town to check things out. I was curious how close the Black River would get to the Highway 10 Bridge. It was closer than I'd ever seen it, but still quite a ways from the deck. It sounded impressive, though.
It was much closer to the deck of the Grand Avenue bridge. There, the river actually overflowed its bank and had crossed Shale Pit Road.
You know, (as long as no one gets hurt) the occasional flood provides pretty good theater.
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