Flash Flood in Wisconsin, June 21, 1997

Severe flash flooding occurred in Milwaukee county as a result of heavy rainfall amounts of up to nearly 10 inches over a 30 hour period ending about 1200CST. This flash flooding was greater than a "100 year rainfall" based on rainfall frequency maps. No one was injured or killed by the flood waters, thanks to superb rescue efforts by local law enforcement officials and firefighters. Firefighters in boats recued 20 people from their flooded homes. Besides public sector damage in county/city parks, there was widespread private and business damages. The hardest hit areas were the cities of Brown Deer, Wauwatosa, and the Piggsville, Lincoln Creek, Sherman Park, and Menomonee Valley areas of the city of Milwaukee. The earliest flash flooding occurred in Fox Point around 0230CST, with other northern Milwaukee County locations experiencing flash flooding after 0300CST. (On July 7th, Milwaukee county was officially declared a Federal Disaster Area, making county residents and business owners eligible for Federal disaster aid).About 9600 homes in the county had minor damage, 137 with major damage, and 15 were destroyed.. Monetary value of reported residental damage was $53.365 million. In the business sector, 7 had minor damage, 22 had major damage, and 3 were destroyed. Several hundred more businesses had some damage, but never reported it to county emergenciy managers. Total reported business losses were pegged at $9.665 million. Three farms in the extreme southern part of the county reported flood damages of $18,000. Public sector damges were $1.451 for debris clearance, $309,400 for protective measures, $1.544 miliion for road systems, $395,000 for water control, $3.397 million for buildings, $1.555 million for utilities, and $7.0 million for "other." Total public sector damages were pegged at $15.651 million..Combining Milwaukee County and the surrounding counties in the metro area, about 25,000 customers lost electrical power due to damaged power lines... about 15,000 natural gas customers lost natural gas service... and about 4000 homes or businesses had their telephone service disrupted. Hundreds of people were forced from their homes until repairs or cleanups could be completed. Basement flooding county-wide severely damaged or wiped out much personal property. Several hospitals were adversely affected either by lower floor flooding or the lose of electrical service. Many car dealerships and repair shops suffered much damage to new and used vehicles. At least 20 schools sustained major structural damage. Storm sewers simply could not keep up with the deluge and overflowed/backed up in many locations. Raw sewage from sanitary sewers backed up in thousands of homes. Raw sewage also made its way into Lake Michigin due to failure of sanitary swers. The loss of electrical service prevented the use of sump pumps, which compounded the flooding problems. In the days following this historical flood, the local Red Cross ran out of clean-up kits. Many roads and underpasses across the county were flooded with several feet of water, resulting in many road closures. Many drivers had to be rescued after their vehicles were swept away by deep, fast water currents over roads. Interstate 43 in extreme northern Milwaukee county was closed from around 0500CST to 1900CST in the evening. At one point the water depth on the road was 12 feet! Firefighters in recue boats, while kneeling, managed to touch the bottom of the County Line Road overpass on I-43! In Milwaukee, a sewer line collapsed in front of the Harley Davidson Motorcycle plant, resulting in a sinkhole 30 feet deep and 60 feet wide.The Milwaukee Brewers baseball game scheduled for the evening hours was canceled due to water flooding the playing field to a depth of 2 to 3 feet. The last time this happened was in 1986. A portion of a bluff collapsed in Juneau Park along the Lake Michigan shoreline after soils became saturated. For the first time in memory, Brown Deer and Green Bay roads in the city of Brown Deer flooded, and fish were observed to be swimming on these roads! A 50 foot section of the lakeside bluff at Klode Park in Whitefish Bay slid into Lake Michigan, taking trees with it. North of Klode Park, a 200 foot strip of private land slid into the lake. There was other scattered damage to stairs along the Lake Michigan bluffs. In addition, many roads in the county had sections of asphalt washed away by the water currents.Fast flowing, high waters on the Kinnickinnic River in the southern parts of the city of Milwaukee resulted in four 500 ton barges breaking loose. These barges then drifted downriver and smashed into 21 pleasure crafts just west of 1st Street. Damage to the pleasure craft amounted to $1.2 million (two sailboats sunk). Honey Creek in Wauwatosa reached the highest levels that local residents could ever remember. Water depths on nearby roads and River Parkway reached at least 5 feet! One hundred nearby homes were evacuated. Lowland flooding also occurred along the Root River in the southern part of the county. Rainfall totals for the 30-hour period ending 1200CST were 9.78 inches in Brown Deer (TV-6 studio), 8.99 inches in the northwest corner of the city of Milwaukee, 7.25 in Greenfield, and 7.20 in Wauwatosa. Nearly all of the remainder of the northern half of Milwaukee county had 6 to 7 inches of rain, while the southern fourth had 3 to 6 inch totals. Mitchell Field recorded 5.25 inches. The bulk of these rainfall totals occurred between 2000CST on July 20 through 1000CST on the 21st.The Menomonee River in Wauwatosa crested at a new record level of 16.63 feet at 0835CST on the 21st, or 7.63 feet over flood stage (greater than a 100 year flood). Major flooding occurred near and along its banks. It went below flood stage mid-morning on July 22nd. The Milwaukee River in Milwaukee crested at a new record level of 10.0 feet at 1030CST on the 21st, or 3 feet over flood stage (greater than a 100 year flood). It went below flood stage during the evening hours on the 21st. Lincoln Creek in Milwaukee crested at 20.09 feet at 0900CST on the 21st, or 7.09 feet above flood stage. Flooding on this creek was rated as major. Oak Creek in the southern part of the city of Milwaukee crested at 9.72 feet at 0815CST on the 21st, or 2.72 feet above flood stage (approx. 40 year flood). Flooding along this creek was rated as moderate.