Meg Jones

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Many areas of waterlogged Wisconsin remained flooded Wednesday after more rain fell overnight, closing roads and schools and continuing to disrupt lives.

Damage from repeated rains and flooding in Dane County alone were estimated Wednesday at more than $154 million.

In Monroe County, someone impersonating a state Department of Natural Resources official went door to door in the town of Portland on Monday warning residents to evacuate immediately because of a pending dam failure though there was no danger of a dam failing.

And it was still raining Wednesday afternoon into the evening over much of central and southern Wisconsin.

The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued maps outlining estimated precipitation statistics and the numbers are astounding. Between the first flooding that started Aug. 16 through Wednesday, Mauston has gotten almost 19 inches of precipitation, Montello 18 inches and Port Washington, 14.12.

Other rainfall totals for that time period: West Bend, 12.98 inches; Tomah, 12.77; Viroqua, 12.54; Juneau, 11.78; Wautoma, 11.63; Fond du Lac, 11.53; Prairie du Chien, 10.76; Wisconsin Dells, 10.66; Madison, 10.37; Monroe, 10.15.

Those figures include rainfall of as much as 6 inches that fell Tuesday night and early Wednesday in southwestern, west-central and northwestern sections of Wisconsin.

More than 2,700 calls have come into the 211 phone line for flooding damage.

While several school districts canceled classes Tuesday, on what was supposed to be the first day of the school year, Montello schools remain closed through this week and Richland School District in Richland Center told students and staff members to stay home again Wednesday. School officials cited flooded and closed roads on school bus routes as well as worries about homes threatened by rising waters in their decisions to cancel classes.

An American Red Cross shelter was opened at the Richland Center Community Center because of significant flooding in the city and flash floods affecting several small communities in Richland County.

Fiber optic lines washed out from flooding in Richland County knocked out cellphone service Wednesday for some customers, the Sheriff's Department reported. Verizon technicians were working to restore service. Calls to 911 from Verizon phones were working.

Wisconsin National Guardsmen finished a sandbagging mission along I-39/90/94 in Columbia County and remain on standby.

Wisconsin will get $1.5 million in federal emergency relief transportation funding to help repair flood-damaged roads throughout the state, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) announced late Wednesday.

In Monroe County, a resident called the Sheriff's Department to report a man in civilian clothes was knocking on doors on Monday in the town of Portland claiming to work for the DNR. He told residents to flee because a dam was about to collapse.

A sheriff's spokeswoman said Wednesday that though two dams in the county did collapse last week, the condition of all other dams in the county was unchanged and there were no safety concerns.

Officials "would not go door to door unless it's a (DNR) warden which would be on request of emergency management. They would be in uniform and have identification and a badge," said Amy Meimann of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department.

Meimann didn't know how many homes were visited by the DNR impersonator. There were no burglaries or looting associated with the impersonator.

In Madison, all three Lake Monona boat launches remained closed and officials warned homeowners not to remove sandbags since flooding on swollen lakes and streams is expected to continue for several days.

Dane County Emergency Management submitted a formal estimate of flooding damage to the state and the numbers starkly revealed the devastation. Residential damage was estimated at more than $78 million with residents reporting that only 2 percent of that damage was insured.

A total of 1,544 Dane County residences were affected — five homes were destroyed, 302 homes sustained major damage, 857 with minor damage and 380 affected by flooding.

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Dane County business damage was estimated at $37 million with 17 businesses sustaining major flooding damage. Local and county government damage and expenses associated with the flooding totaled $39 million including $2.2 million for clearing debris, almost $7 million for emergency response and repairs to roads, $10 million in losses to public utilities and $8 million in losses to public buildings and equipment.

Fortunately, the National Weather Service forecast for the rest of the week, beginning Thursday, is for dry conditions and mostly sunny skies with high temperatures in the 70s.

Private property owners should report flood and storm damage by dialing 211 or (877) 947-2211.