Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Monday, June 09, 2008
Weekend storms pound Tomah area
The Tomah area got a soaking over the weekend but missed the worst of the rough weather that swept through west-Central Wisconsin.
The area got as much as five inches of rain Saturday and Sunday, according to one unofficial report in the town of Tomah. Ontario was soaked with 4.37 inches as of 10 p.m. Saturday.
Other communities reporting large rain totals through Saturday night were Necedah at 3.76 inches, Westby at 3.51 inches and Hillsboro at 2.96 inches.
Rainfall totals were sharply lower north of Tomah. Warrens received just .75 inches, and Black River Falls recorded .23 inches.
Areas of Monroe County south of Tomah received more than 3 inches of rain over less than three hours Saturday evening. Heavy rains caused water to run over Hwy. 27 near Leon, south of Sparta. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department reported just after 6 p.m. that the highway was flooded at Jackpot Avenue.
Sirens went off in Tomah twice Saturday for storm warnings. The first series of storms occurred shortly after noon and blew down a tree that damaged a home and a vehicle in the Kendall area. The second series of storms that rumbled through shortly after 6 p.m. resulted in wind and heavy rain but produced no reports of damage in Tomah.
The scattered storms also left hundreds of people without power for several hours. As of late Saturday, Xcel Energy crews were still working to restore power to about 700 customers in Sparta, Norwalk, La Crosse, West Salem and Viroqua.
The rainfall caused many small creeks and the Kickapoo River to overflow their banks, which will likely mean more flooding downstream in the coming days, according to the National Weather Service.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.