Flash Flood in Wisconsin, August 5, 1998

A series of thunderstorms, slowly moving northeast at 10 mph, trained through the Clinton area, dumping an additional 4 to almost 6 inches. The day's rainfall total reached 8 inches based on WSR-88D Doppler radars. The resultant flash flooding washed out two bridges on roads north and northeast of Clinton. Two miles north of Clinton, at about 2010CST, a 12 foot long bridge on Highway 140 over Turtle Creek was washed away by surging waters. A few minutes later, with the bridge missing and visibilities poor, a vehicle was driven into Turtle Creek. It's two occupants were rescued by the local fire department. At 1020 pm, a couple miles east and upstream on Turtle Creek, a bridge on the Bradford-Clinton Townline Road was washed out by the flood waters. A vehicle was traveling on this bridge when it collapsed. The car and its two occupants were swept downstream about 100 yards. The injured occupants, after hanging on to tree branches for 1 hour, were rescued by the local fire department. In Clinton, several homes and businesses sustained flooding damage to their contents. East of Clinton on County X, several cars and trucks were swept off the road by the flood waters. The village of Clinton registered 5.79 inches of rain between 1900CST and 2200CST. Turtle Creek in Clinton was above flood stage from 1115am on August 5th to 7pm on the 6th. The synoptic reasons for this flooding can be found in the August 4th entry for flash flooding in Columbia Co.