You may have heard about the unsettled weather that has been moving through the Midwest. Wisconsin has been affected and especially any counties along the rivers in the southern part of the state. Madison reported about 6 inches of rain in the last three days, but our area has had nearly 10 inches.
Saturday was an unusual day for us as there were two tornado warnings in the Wisconsin Dells area. The first sirens went off about 1:15 pm shortly after Curt and I came on shift. We told people about the storm shelter and encouraged everyone to join us in the garage built in a hillside. About 20 adults and 10 children stuck it out in the cemented, secure location for about an hour. We watched the rain pour down. We watched a tent fill with water and blow in the strong wind. Several trees snapped off during this first storm, but nothing in the camp ground was seriously damaged, luckily. A campground just 5 miles away suffered severe damage to the grounds and to camping units. There are closed for a time.
The rain let up, the clouds moved on and clean up began by the staff. The electrical power had gone out to the camp ground and to all of the Wisconsin Dells about 2:00. We lost phone power within an hour and later lost water to the camp ground. (Water was taken from the swimming pool to flush the toilets.) Without power, we could not take reservations, open the cash register-you get the idea. We covered the coolers to keep the ice cream, the ice and milk products cold.
About 5:00 the clouds moved back in, the sirens sounded and once again, we gathered the campers and encouraged them to move into the shelter. This time several dogs joined the group. We listened to stories of the campers' experiences in town during the first warning. Again we watched the rain pour down and winds blow. There wasn't any other damage within our camp ground. All of our guests and their property was safe. Some of our families left the camp ground after this weather session. Either their tent was down and wet or they just were tired of the rain. It was easier to go home than to continue to deal with the unknown of Mother Nature.
Electrical power was restored some time after midnight. Rain continued through the night and into the morning on Sunday. There was a brief reprieve on Sunday afternoon, but by 5:00, the skies opened once again and we had more rain last night. As of this morning, it is dry and there is some sunshine. We are hearing of county roads being washed out to the south of us, about 5 miles. There is also concern of the dams breaking because of the amount of water. The camp ground is on high land, so we are safe. But the unsettled weather will continue through rest of the week. Our summer adventure continues...
Last week when we went to the neighboring community, we saw signs of flooding. in the areas around and along the Baraboo River, people had sandbags around the foundations of their homes. We could see the high water levels rushing under the bridges. I got a photo of an area where the two nearest evergreens were now standing in water, where they had not been before the storms of the week before. Thankfully, the water has receded in this area and the main roads are once again open to traffic. There is still a detour on 90/94 between Madison & Milwaukee; it just isn't a 500 mile detour anymore.
This seconded photo is of Lake Delton, the lake that is no more. What looks like tents in the background is actually the ski jumps for the Tommy Barlett Ski Show that is now a land and sky show. The lake over-flowed it's banks at the far end of the photo, washing out a road and the earthen barrier that held it in place. It was interesting to drive along the lake yesterday and see all the boats lifts on the sandy bottom of what used to be the lake. There were also many boats and pontoons lining the shoreline. We did not see the houses that had broken in half or the area where the houses had been washed away. The lake just drained away, leaving its contents in place, undisturbed and barren.