Jesse Garza

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One person was killed in Vernon County Thursday in a mudslide triggered by torrential rains and widespread flooding in western Wisconsin, authorities said.

Gov. Scott Walker declared a state of emergency Thursday in 13 counties, where up to 10 inches of rain has fallen this week, according to a news release from the governor's office.

The declaration involves Vernon, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Eau Claire, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Sauk and Trempealeau counties, according to the release.

The fatality occurred when a mudslide caused a home to slide onto Highway 35 south of county Highway UU near Victory, according to a news release from Wisconsin Emergency Management.

The victim, Michael McDonald, 53, was the only resident inside the home, which was destroyed, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management spokesman Tod Pritchard.

Also in Vernon County, a small trailer park in De Soto was evacuated and highways were closed in Victory, Readstown, La Farge and Chaseburg, according to the agency.

In Crawford County, two locomotive engines and five cars from a BNSF freight train derailed, spilling about 1,000 gallons of fuel into the Mississippi River, according to the Emergency Management news release.

No injuries were reported and crews from the railway placed booms on the river to contain the spilled fuel, according to the release, which reported several mudslides and numerous road closures throughout the affected counties.

The derailment occurred near Ferryville, according to the La Crosse Tribune.

Two of the derailed cars were empty tankers, one that was last used to haul ethanol, the other last used to haul vegetable oil, according to a post on the newspaper's website.

The other cars that derailed were carrying drywall panels, according to the newspaper.