Arcadia, Wisconsin Evacuated As Heavy Thunderstorms Flood Homes, Streets

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the city of Arcadia in western Wisconsin after it was flooded due to heavy rains Wednesday night and early hours of Thursday, which made Turton Creek near downtown overflow its banks.

Several residents of the Trempealeau County city also voluntarily left their homes around 2:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. EDT) and made their way to a church where Red Cross had set up a shelter for evacuees.

The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of up to 75 mph and heavy rains Wednesday evening. A tornado was reported 2 miles west-southwest of Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. NWS also predicted chances of additional rainfall between Friday night and Saturday morning.

The thunderstorm buried the city under 10 inches of rainwater, causing residents to take emergency leave from their work places and damaging property, full extent of which is still to be evaluated. Multiple roads in Vernon and Buffalo counties were shut off and mudslides were triggered in more than one parts of the state, causing Highway 95 near Fountain City to close down.

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"We’re a city with more than 5,000 jobs,” Arcadia Chamber of Commerce member Jason Lockington said, LA Crosse Tribune reported. “We’re basically idle until we get the city back up and running.”

This is not the first time that Arcadia has faced a natural disaster like this, and fire chief Jeff Halverson said not only the emergency services but community members too pitched in to get the city back on its feet.

Emergency crews tended to a gas leak at one house and visted another where the basement wall had caved in. City police and firefighters stayed overnight helping evacuate residents of 30 houses affected byrising floodwaters on Oak street. By late afternoon Thursday, the residents were safely back in their homes.

Even though the city management was quick to pump out floodwater from the street and backyards of houses, work will be cut out for the residents to get their homes rid of the mud and dirt left behind by the deluge.

The flooding of Turton Creek during heavy rains is a regular occurence and the city fell into its usual drill of handling a situation like this. “The city did a phenomenal job,” Halverson said. “This is not the first time we have been through this. Everyone knows their role.”

According to the latest update, all the access points around the city are open and extra dumpsters have been set up across the area to aid residents dispose of items destroyed by the flood. However, multiple side streets remain flooded and inaccessible, confirmed Arcadia Police Department, local news outlet WEAU News reported.

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Parts of Iowa were also hit hard by the rains, with the city of McGregor particularly affected; City Hall and several other structures downtown sustained severe damages, US News reported. At least one person was hospitalized after his barn collapsed, trapping him inside. Minnesota too was affected, and officials said mudslides or flooding made highways such as Interstate 90 and highways 16, 26 and 61 in Winona and Houston counties inaccessible.