MILWAUKEE — Gov. Scott Walker Tuesday declared a state of emergency in eight northern Wisconsin counties after torrential overnight rains — as much as 11 inches in one town — flooded parts of the area, closing roads, swamping harbors and washing out at least one bridge. One man drowned after driving his car into a flooded ditch.
According to the Bayfield County Sheriff's office, on Tuesday morning, Delmar Johnson, 84, of Tower Lakes, Ill., was trying to manuever around a washout on County Highway M near Cable, Wis. But Johnson backed up his vehicle too fast into a flooded ditch along the highway, officials said.
A firefighter from the Cable Fire Department was able to rescue Johnson's 84-year-old wife, who was a passenger in the car.
The firefighter was able to get Johnson out of the car, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Storms that had brought tornadoes to Minnesota entered northwest Wisconsin with heavy rains and strong winds, bringing flash flood warnings to Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Sawyer, Washburn and Polk counties.
A wide swath of the north woods recorded rain totals nearing double digits with Wascott in Douglas County topping the list at 11 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Keith Kesler, Douglas County Director of Emergency Management, said that trees and branches were brought down in the area by the heavy wind and rain, but those were mostly cleared Tuesday afternoon. Some country roads were still impassable because of high water late Tuesday afternoon.
Travel in Ashland County was being discouraged Tuesday, according to a press release from the Wisconsin State Emergency Operation Center.
The White River south of Ashland rose about 7 feet to a record level early Tuesday, passing the previous record from 1953. To the east of Ashland, the Bad River near Odanah rose over 15 feet within six hours to its third highest level before the river gauge stopped reporting Tuesday morning.
In Iron County, flooding washed out much of Saxon Harbor, where two creeks spill into Lake Superior, damaging or destroying 85 boats, according to the Wisconsin Emergency Operations Center. There were 33 people stranded on Michigan Island off of Saxon Harbor Tuesday morning, but they were rescued and no injuries were reported.
Terry Brauer, owner of Saxon Pub in Iron County, said some boats went over the breakwall and vehicles and campers had been washed into Lake Superior Tuesday morning. No one was injured.
"We're out here on an island right now," Brauer said, referring to the many washed out roads in the area.
On Sand Island, withing the Apostle Island National Lakeshore, 11 kayakers were rescued after their vessels washed ashore, according to the National Park Service.
U.S. 63 at Matts Drive in the town of Grand View in Bayfield County was closed because the roadway was washed out in both directions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
"There's like no road, it's just gone on both ends," Rory Arens, owner of Pats Place bar on US Highway 63 in Grand View, said. "We're stuck out here like we're on an island. People said there's a couple back roads you might be able to take, but I think you would have to do a lot of maneuvering."
Contributing: Jesse Garza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and KARE-TV, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. Follow Maggie Angst on Twitter: @MaggieAngst
