Residents stressed as historic Dane County flooding moves into third week

Amy Reid by Amy Reid

At the start of the third week of historic flooding in Dane County, Tim Nicholson is tired.

He and his family have lived on Belle Isle in Monona for 17 years, and Nicholson said they have had to sandbag their property seven or eight times. This most recent wave has been nearly constant as he and his neighbors have walls of sandbags protecting their homes from the rising lake water.

“My hands don’t function anymore,” he said. “They hurt a lot. My joints, and just, stress level just goes up for everybody.”

Saturday night’s rains raised Lake Monona 1.5 inches, and more water from Lake Mendota from the open Tenney Dam could raise it more.

Water is starting to flow over the top of the Tenney Lock. Dane County is letting more water out this afternoon to compensate for last night’s rain, and they are warning residents flooding isn’t over. #news3 pic.twitter.com/1zONnODRgj — Amy Reid (@amyreidreports) September 2, 2018

Sam Tartamella stopped by the Tenney Locks Sunday to see the water. He said he grew up in Madison and used the lakes as a teenager 50 years ago.

“This is something I’ve never seen before on this magnitude,” he said.

The data backs up what Tartamella saw. The city of Madison said Lake Monona reached a historic high on Sunday. According to data from the county’s land and water resources department, this is the third time in the past 20 years the lake has reached 100-year levels.

Just checked historical data of lake levels on Monona. According to Dane Co Land&Water Resource Dept, this August is the 3rd time in the last 20 years the lake has hit 100-year levels (new record ~848.13). Last time was June 2008 (847.75) and before that Sept 2003 (847.7) #news3 — Amy Reid (@amyreidreports) September 2, 2018

Nicholson is bracing for more rain. He said he checks the weather 30 times a day. It’s often the first thing he does when he wakes up. The second is check lake levels.

“You never know,” he said. “You just get 10 inches of rain, and then we’ll be in trouble.”

Rain chances continue in the Madison area through the rest of the week. City officials warn residents not to move sandbags and do not park in low-lying areas.

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