La Crosse, Wis., braces for Mississippi crest

In this story: Two feet from maximum Sump pumps selling fast RELATED STORIES, SITES

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (CNN) -- Residents of the river town of La Crosse, Wisconsin, will hold their breath until Wednesday, when the Mississippi River that is flirting with record levels of flooding, is expected to crest.

A big concern Monday came from a strong wind out of the northwest, gusting to 40 mph. "The waves are coming across the river and crashing into homes," said Al Spaulding, La Crosse County emergency management coordinator.

So far, the waves have not damaged the dikes. The winds are forecast to die down to 10 to 15 mph Monday evening.

VIDEO The Minnesota National Guard calls for volunteers to build dikes, while rising waters wash out Amtrak lines between Minneapolis and Chicago Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) A crack in the dike at the Minnesota River brings out the best in the community of Granite Falls. Correspondent Steve Smith is there Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     INTERACTIVE Techniques for fighting flood waters     CNN WEATHER FORECASTS La Crosse, WI Shakopee, WI Wahpeton, ND Fargo, ND Grand Forks, ND Breckenridge, MN Granite Falls, MN     RESOURCES CNN weather satellite: U.S. North Central

Most of the flood damage has been minor, and what serious flooding there has been was limited to lightly populated areas, according to officials. A few low-lying roads and parks have been closed with up to five feet of water over them.

The emergency management office said less than a dozen homes have been seriously damaged.

Two feet from maximum

Monday afternoon, the river level was a fraction over 16 feet, putting it about four feet above the flood stage of 12 feet and less than two feet below the 18-foot level the city's dikes were built to handle.

"We're going to go up to 17 feet, and should hit crest 7 a.m. Wednesday morning," said Spaulding. "That's our best guess."

"We're just checking all the levies and dikes, and reinforcing," Spaulding said, "getting ready for the crest." He added that the river level could be back down to 16 feet again by the end of the week.

The record river level of 17.9 feet was set in 1965, the same year the dike system was built.

Spaulding said the county is fortunate, because "there's water everywhere. The river is two to three miles wide in some areas." Spaulding spent part of Monday afternoon looking over the area in a news helicopter.

The swollen Mississippi has caused flood warnings from Lake City, Minnesota, to Guttenberg, Iowa.

Because of the high water, the Mississippi River has been closed to all boat traffic from 20 miles south of La Crosse to St. Paul, Minnesota, a stretch of about 150 miles.

Sump pumps selling fast

La Crosse is at the junction of the Mississippi and Black rivers.

While dikes and walls of sandbags have kept most of the rivers from overflowing their banks, water has seeped into homes under the ground.

"We're starting to get a lot of seepage into basements," Spaulding said, "maybe for the next couple of weeks."

The groundwater caught some residents by surprise.

"There are 10 inches of water in my basement," said Kim Olson of the emergency management office, "A big box of pictures I wanted to save got wet."

Flooding in Wisconsin and other areas of the upper Midwest has created a run on sump pumps, the devices used to pump excess water out of basements.

The pumps and related items are being sold just about as quickly as they come in stock, businesses said.

"Just today, we received two semi-truck loads of sump pumps, and another semi-truck load of pump hoses," said Ace Hardware retailer support manager Tim Rignell. The distribution center in La Crosse serves stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Michigan and Iowa.

The flood waters are within sight of the Ace distribution center, but are not expected to reach the warehouse, Rignell said. "At least I hope not."

Dike breach causes home evacuations in Minnesota
April 15, 2001

National Weather Service

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