Residents return home in Wisconsin after dam failed, causing major flooding

Residents in eastern Wisconsin were returning to their homes Saturday after a dam failed Friday, causing major flooding in the Green Bay area.

Manawa Police Chief Jason Severson announced in a Friday evening release Highway 22-110, a major thoroughfare in and out of the city, reopened after waters from the Little Wolf River receded following the Manawa Dam's failure Friday. He said a local high school and Masonic Temple closed for the night and no longer had evacuees. Manawa is about 46 miles west of Green Bay.

The National Weather Service in Green Bay canceled a flooding warning Saturday morning but didn't rule out the possibility of further flooding with more rain anticipated for Saturday into Monday.

"Flooding is expected to continue along the Little Wolf River downstream of the Manawa Dam the rest of the weekend," the agency said. "Do not drive across flooded roadways if traveling through this area. Other rivers and streams will continue to run above bankfull due to recent rainfall."

The Waupaca County Department of Public Health issued a boil water advisory Friday evening for Manawa and surrounding areas because of the flooding.

Water surges over Manawa Dam, floods city

The National Weather Service said the Manawa Dam failed early Friday after water overflowed the structure, causing severe flooding downstream. The city issued evacuation orders for anyone downstream of the dam and closed all roads into the 1,400-population city.

Additional warnings were issued for Outagamie County, where officials in Appleton had launched emergency boats to rescue residents from flooded homes. A flood watch was issued for the city of Green Bay. .

Witness describes rushing floodwater in Manawa

Ian Corkhill was driving his Silverado north of Manawa on Friday morning when he came across “major flooding” and a stuck Chevrolet Trailblazer.

“The water was running,” Corkhill said. “It wasn’t just like a stationary flood. You could tell that it was rushing water.”

Many vehicles pulled off into a nearby church parking lot, he said, and traffic was backing up.

“I was just hoping that people in smaller cars would not try and go through there,” he said. “I couldn’t tell obviously how deep the water was. But, I could tell it was up to the doors on some of those cars, so that’s probably, I would say, 3 feet deep.”

Corkhill saw two more cars get stuck in the floodwaters amid the "torrential" rain.

“I could feel like the rain moving my truck,” he said. “It was pretty nerve-wracking.”

Flooding started at 8:30 a.m. Friday; Manawa dam fails

From 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, the northwest side of Manawa received 5.6 inches of rain, according to Kurt Kotenderg, meteorologist for NWS in Green Bay. Outagamie County also saw 2 to 3 inches of rain this morning until around noon and is expecting 1 to 1½ inches of rain to yet fall.

According to Manawa's Facebook page, vehicles are being flooded on the roads around the city. Residents have been urged to avoid driving in the area.

"Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles," the National Weather Service in Green Bay advised.

The city of Manawa's Facebook page also reported that the Manawa dam has faced major damage, but isn't completely broken. NWS said the dam has been over-topped, meaning there is so much water that it is going over the dam, according to the Appleton Post-Crescent, part of the USA TODAY Network. This is deemed a dam failure.

The Manawa police department released a press release, saying the land near the dam was eroding when first responders arrived, which started evacuation down the river.

The flooding caused the cancellation of the second day of the Mid-Western Rodeo, which was set to wrap up Sunday. The rodeo's Facebook page announced that all performances for the weekend would be canceled.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Residents return home in Wisconsin after dam failed, causing major flooding