I was born and spent the first eleven years of my life among southeastern Wisconsin’s dairy farms, corn and bean fields. My birthplace is also home to a large Nestle’s chocolate plant. When I was a kid, it was the world’s biggest, and the whole town smelled of chocolate; how was one not to fall in love with chocolate, smelling it everyday?
We arrived in town last Friday to visit family. Friday night it stormed, and again on Sunday. We had a big storm Tuesday night, with six inches of rain. Then, on Wednesday, the Fox River overflowed at least two dams, one in East Troy and another in Burlington, rising three feet higher than any previous flood in history. Flood level is 11 feet, and we crested at 16.5. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes, and thousands of acres of farmland were flooded. The whole of downtown Burlington closed—businesses guarded by sandbags to save what they could.
Fortunately I have heard of no one killed; that’s where I so appreciate the communication systems and the public service workers in small town USA. Governor Walker quickly declared a state of emergency, so insurance, federal and state funds will hopefully help people recover financially from property damage and loss of income.
Our corn fields turned into corn paddies, reminding me of the rice paddies in Japan—though in that case the crop is intended to sit in water. Sadly, flooding is not great for corn or beans.
Our local baseball diamond is most definitely out of commission for a while.
Our city park became a lake. Rescue workers launched their boats in the former parking lot.
And the ground floor of our beautiful new Veteran’s Memorial building was filled with several feet of water.
It was very difficult to get anywhere, as so many roads and bridges were closed. Thousands of homes lost power throughout the area.
Please keep these hardworking, friendly people in your thoughts and prayers. Let’s hope the power comes back on soon and that recovery can proceed smoothly.
¡VidaMaz! 
I saw this on Greg Webb’s Twitter. I am sorry to hear this. I hope y’all dry out soon. I am glad that no one was hurt.
Thank you so much for your well wishes!
Burlington is a resilient little town……We lived in Lake Geneva for a number of years and saw Burlington deal with water several times…..this is an extraordinary episode, however. Anywhere the Fox River flows is going to get wet sometimes….the issue is always “how wet?” Our best wishes to those in the midst of this.
Yes, Burlington is filled with wonderful, strong, resilient people who band together and help one another. In that they are very blessed.
So sorry to hear this! Sending prayers your way.
Thank you, beautiful girlfriend!