Advertisement Fox River in Burlington crests three feet above previous record flood level Previous record of 13.54 feet was set in 2008; Gov. Walker declares State of Emergency Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The Fox River in Burlington crested early Thursday at 16.5 feet, an official said, a full three feet higher than the previous record set nearly a decade ago. The previous record of 13.54 feet was set in 2008. The river is normally about 4 feet, and flood stage is 11 feet.Gov. Scott Walker declared a state of emergency for Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties after a slow-moving storm dumped several inches of rain, knocking out power to thousands, closing roads and halting Amtrak's Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago.>> Check Current Conditions: Interactive Radar | TrafficIn Burlington, authorities overnight enforced a curfew beginning at 10 p.m. but urged people who live along the river to evacuate before then if possible. The National Guard was brought in overnight, and all four bridges that cross the river were closed."We continue to monitor this whole situation closely. Our hope is that we get no further rain, no further damage, and our residents can have a peaceful night," Burlington Mayor Jeannie Hefty said late Wednesday.Flooding knocked out a We Energies substation at about 5:45 p.m. in the Burlington area, leaving thousands without power. Crews worked on rerouting power from other areas. The communities affected include the city of Burlington, the town of Burlington, Dover and Rochester. Hefty declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning for the municipality. She encouraged property owners to monitor the Fox and White River levels and expect increased flooding and to not boat on the Fox River.Sand bags were filled and distributed to the community. Two pick-up points are: Walgreens, 680 Milwaukee Ave.; and Karcher Middle School, 225 Robert St.One Burlington homeowner said he'd just walked out of his basement when he heard water busting through a window and flooding his home.Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning because of flash flooding throughout the county."We are concerned about the potential damage to both public infrastructure and to homes and businesses," Delagrave said. "County staff are monitoring the situation closely, and we are prepared to do everything we can to support local municipal efforts."In East Troy, in Walworth County, the Honey Creek Dam on the south side of the city was being overtopped, the National Weather Service said.Delavan Lake is under a Slow No Wake speed restriction due to high water levels. This will remain in effect until they have dropped to a safe level. As a result of the high levels all public boat launches are now closed until further notice. Please check the Town of Delavan website for updates. Closures/Cancellations:-- Burlington Area School District summer school and community education classes are canceled Thursday>> We Energies Outage MapWe Energies reported 4,478 customers had no power as of 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Almost all of the outages are in Racine County. Rain totals as of 4 p.m. Wednesday:Bohners Lake: 8.04 inchesBurlington: 6.80 inchesDousman: 4.1 inchesElkhorn: 7.2 inchesFranklin: 1.99 inchesGreenfield: 3.7 inchesLyons: 8.09 inchesMenomonee Falls: 2.48 inchesNew Berlin: 2.98 inchesPewaukee: 4.6 inchesWheatland: 8.0 inchesGet breaking news alerts with the WISN 12 mobile app or with our email newsletters.