Wisconsin Communities Prepare For High Waters On Mississippi River

Wisconsin communities along the Mississippi River are preparing for moderate flooding over the next two weeks.

The National Weather Service in La Crosse reports the upper Mississippi River has already reached flood stage in many locations.

Meteorologist Jeff Boyne said the river is expected to crest between April 2 to April 5 in La Crosse and to the north of the city, while communities to the south will likely see crests between April 3 to April 8.

“With the temperatures a little bit cooler this weekend, we could see those delayed a little bit,” Boyne said. “The values could also be decreased a little bit from where those crests are forecasted to be.”

Boyne said the current flood outlook is milder than what forecasters were anticipating at the start of March.

“There was some concern earlier in the spring that we could see a lot of major to record flooding,” Boyne said. “Fortunately, we’ve been seeing a good snow melt really, where we’ve been having temperatures above freezing during the day and then it freezes at night, and that tempers the amount of water going into the rivers.”

But Boyne said river levels will still be higher than average and could impact area roads, homes and businesses.

Crawford County Emergency Management director Jim Hackett said he has been hosting weekly preparation meetings to keep the public informed and a local sand company donated materials for sandbags.

“The Wisconsin Correctional Institute here in Prairie du Chien has filled all of our sandbags for us and then the city of Prairie du Chien Street Department has transported them over to our staging area where the public can come get sandbags,” Hackett said. “The Prairie du Chien Volunteer Fire Department has been helping. They were actually out last night and laid 1,000 sandbags for an elderly individual.”

Hackett said moderate flooding is nothing new for residents along the Mississippi. He said the community knows which streets and structures will be threatened when the water reaches certain stages.

Hackett said officials have also been monitoring the Kickapoo River and the Wisconsin River, which frequently flood rural communities across the county.