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Emergency Operations: Flood Response in Wisconsin
Background
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Heavy rainfall during early June 2008 caused rivers to rise throughout the southern half of Wisconsin. Local streams and rivers swelled and overflowed their banks in many counties including Vernon, Crawford, Sauk, Columbia, Jefferson and Rock counties. High water in Lake Delton, a popular tourist area in Wisconsin Dells, washed out an adjacent roadway causing the lake to drain into the Wisconsin River.
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Status
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The St. Paul District dispatched flood area engineers to counties and cities in need of assistance. Trash and emergency storm water pumps were issued from the Corps' Fountain City, Wis., Service Base to villages along the Kickapoo River, as well as to Rock and Jefferson counties. Corps' local flood control projects constructed in Boscobel, La Crosse, Spring Valley and Portage, all in Wisconsin, held firm and operated as intended, preventing millions of dollars in flood damages.
Gays Mills, Wis., which was flooded for the second time in less than a year, required two large 6-inch trash pumps to keep its sewage treatment plant in operation. A total of 11 pumps and 283,000 sand bags were issued to assist local governments in holding back floodwaters.
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Authority
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Corps of Engineers Emergency Operations and Levee Rehabilitation are authorized under Public Law 84-99.
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Fiscal
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Funds for emergency operations and levee rehabilitation are provided by the Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies appropriation. The district received $470,000 in initial funds.
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