Report on Northwestern Wisconsin from Wisconsin Emergency Operations

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From Brian Satula, Wisconsin Emergency Management administrator

A significant downpour of rain and flooding occurred overnight and into the morning in Douglas and Bayfield Counties. Up to 8 inches of rain has fallen so far in some areas, triggering several road closures and scattered power outages.

Douglas County:

Most of the damage is located along the lakeshore and in the northwest part of the county. The following communities have received the greatest damage: the City of Superior, and the Towns of: Superior, Parkland, Lakeside and Cloverland.

The city of Superior is assessing the need to provide sheltering for residents with homes that are inaccessible; however no shelters have been established currently. The City is assessing the possibility of a local declaration of emergency. There are also reports of water in basements and some buildings on the UW-Superior campus also received flooding, closing the campus for the day. There are no reports of any individuals displaced as a result of the flooding; however local monitoring and assessments are ongoing.

WI Highway 13 is closed in both directions between County Road U and US Highway 53 and Southbound at US Highway 53 is blocked due to the flooding.

Alternate routes have been identified. There is also water on the roadway on WI Highway 105 near the town of Oliver. Local roads are being used as alternate routes. This closure is expected to last for the day and possibly longer as heavy rain continues in the area. A number of county roads have also been washed out, including County Highways: U, FF, C, D and K.

Bayfield County:

The county emergency management director states that the sheriff and the highway departments are busy with traffic control on Hwy 13. A mutual aid plan is in place with the local ambulance service to ensure access to residents for emergency assistance. The director stated that Uniform Disaster Situation Reports will be submitted later today.

Wisconsin Emergency Management continues to be engaged with the local officials; however no assistance has been requested of the state so far. Wisconsin Emergency Management will continue to monitor and provide updates for this ongoing event.

Tags: news, wisconsin, superior, weather, updates, flood