Residents from the Great Plains to the southern Atlantic Coast are bracing for flash flooding on Monday after up to 14 inches of rain fell in a short amount of time over the weekend in parts of Wisconsin, prompting numerous water rescues in Milwaukee.
Severe thunderstorms early Monday were moving through Kansas and northern Oklahoma, packing 60 mph winds and producing rainfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour.
Heavy rain is also expected along the Atlantic Coast and could produce possible flash flooding in coastal areas of the Carolinas on Monday, including the cities of Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.
The heavy rain is forecast to extend from the Florida panhandle to the Big Bend area of Florida, possibly bringing flash flooding to the area on Monday afternoon.
On Monday night and into Tuesday, thunderstorms are expected from northern Texas through Oklahoma and southwestern Missouri, possibly producing flash flooding in those areas.
Meanwhile, parts of the Midwest, including Wisconsin, are recovering from storms over the weekend that toppled trees, flooded homes and left numerous drivers stranded on flooded roads.
Between 8 and 14 inches of rain fell in just a few hours in the Milwaukee area on Saturday and into Sunday. The extreme rainfall flooded neighborhoods, made many roads impassable and led to water rescues. The storm that hit Milwaukee was also accompanied by gusts of over 80 mph that toppled numerous trees and power lines.
During a news conference on Sunday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson said thousands of people in Milwaukee were affected by the severe flooding. Johnson said parts of the city saw more than a foot of rain in “a short period of time.”
“It’s something that Milwaukee hasn’t seen in perhaps a decade or more,” Johnson said.
Between 8 p.m. on Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday, the Milwaukee Fire Department and neighboring fire departments received 614 separate emergency calls, including 65 that required water rescues, Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said at the news conference.
In the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, the Root River reached a record level of 11.7 feet, causing it to spill its banks and flood nearby neighborhoods, officials said.
On Monday, a state of emergency was declared in Waukesha County, which includes part of Milwaukee, to free up state and federal and resources to help in the recovery effort from the flooding. According to the declaration signed by Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, “the cost of the recovery from this disaster may exceed the resources available within the county.”
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The Franklin Fire Department responded to a 911 call at about 4:27 p.m. local time, reporting that a teenage boy was missing after being swept into the Root River, authorities said.
Police officers and firefighters searched the river and found the teenager holding onto a tree branch and standing on a submerged log in the rapidly moving water about 100 yards downstream from where he was washed into the river, according to the statement from the Franklin Fire Department.
Rescuers made voice contact with the teenager, officials said.
“Although they could not initially see the subject, responders stayed in constant contact, reassuring him to stay calm and continue to hold onto the tree until rescuers arrived,” according to the fire department’s statement.
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The Franklin Fire Department divers deployed an inflatable Zodiac boat to rescue the teenager, who was treated at the scene by paramedics, reunited with his family and taken to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for further medical evaluation, officials said.
“This incident serves as a stark reminder of the dangers posed by flood waters,” the fire department said. “Never walk or drive through flooded roadways or around barricades. Moving water as shallow as 6 inches can knock an adult off their feet, and 2 feet of moving water can sweep away most vehicles.”
