Posted Friday, July 11 --- 6:00pm
With more rain in the fore cast and rivers again rising, one town has a very tough decision to make.
At midnight on Friday a flood warning was issued for Sauk County. By mid morning five inches of rain had fallen affecting the entire county. Numerous roads were closed, and one entire town soon may be as well.
Said director of Sauk County Emergency Management Jeff Jelinek, "It has been kind of stressful just like it has been for the residents of our county. And just like the city, town and village representatives it is getting a little bit old."
When the rains started early Friday morning Sauk County, which has already been declared a federal disaster area, was hit hard again. And Rock Springs seems to have received the worst of it.
Back on June 9th some of the worst flooding happened in Rock Springs when the Baraboo River rose some 20 feet. The town still has not recovered from the last major flooding and the water just keeps coming.
As of noon, the river was up 8 feet from levels earlier in the week. And it was rising so quickly that the water was actually slowly flowing backwards.
"It is a repeat nightmare. It just does not want to seem to quit ending here," said Rock Spring Assistant Fire Chief Tim Ploof.
While no houses have been affected yet, the main concern is the rain fore casted overnight. In preparation, inmates from the Sauk County Jail were called in to assist residents in sandbagging. But other residents like Sheri and Randy Brandt chose to leave the town, for good.
Said Sheri, "I can't do this again. And now after the rain again the water is coming up again."
During the June flood their house was destroyed. The Brandt's got money from FEMA and have applied for a low interest loan from the SBA and are looking for a country home between Baraboo and Reedsburg.
"It was a nice community that kind of never changed," added Randy, "It is kind of a shame to go, but what do you do? You've got to move on."
And now some are even talking about relocating the entire town.
"It is hard to say what is going to happen at this point. It is hard to say," concluded Ploof.
FEMA will reimburse Sauk County 95 percent for all protective measures used for flooding until the federal disaster declaration is over. Protective measures include, sand bags, rescues and overtime hours for police, fire, sheriffs' deputy and EMS.