Lake Delton in Wisconsin Dells is.... well, gone.

[PeaceNikki]

http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=6/9/2008&id=41084

MONDAY, June 9, 2008, 1:33 p.m.
By Don Walker and Meg Jones

Rushing flood waters drain Lake Delton



Lake Delton near the Dells is essentially empty after the rain-swollen lake cut its own channel around a dam and emptied into the Wisconsin River, taking four homes with it.

The 254-acre lake is the home of the famed Tommy Bartlett Water Show. Tom Diehl, who operates the show and is a trustee for the Village of Lake Delton, said there was nothing but mud where the show is staged every day.

"We haven't had a show since Friday," Diehl said in a telephone interview. "We canceled Saturday and Sunday because of high water," he said. "Today, we're canceling because of no water."

Diehl described the Lake Delton situation as a once in 250-year event. "It dropped inch after inch after inch into the watershed," Diehl said. "Last night the lake went up 20 inches. We started sandbagging trying to protect the dam. But when the water got too high, four homes were lost. It took on a life of its own."

Diehl estimated there were 10-15 resorts on Lake Delton. Those resorts will lose significant business, Diehl said.

On the scene where the lake used to be, Journal Sentinel photographer Joe Koshollek said it looks as if a plug had been pulled from a bathtub filled with water. The lake, which is where the popular amphibious Ducks travel, has been pretty much all drained.

"The lake is gone," Koshollek said. "I heard one girl say 'I'm out of a job' because she rents jet skis."

...

[SoCalDem]

1. Mother Nature is reclaiming what was "taken" from her..

and without the houses perched right on the water's edge, maybe the general public will have a waterfront to enjoy sometime soon..

here's hoping the insurance companies pay these folks, and that the zoning peoiple never let them rebuild on the water's edge again.

[Carnea]

4. It's a fucking Man made lake.

Why wouldn't you put a house near it????? Plus I doubt the houses that were lost were on the lake sounds like they were downstream so to speak.

Every time something bad happens it's always nature never intended us to live there crap. Go back to the African Savannah if you feel so fucking strongly cause if your not living there your living somewhere nature didn't intend.

God self righteousness makes me sick. Sorry your life is so bitter that you don't want your fellow Americans to have nice things.

[SoCalDem]

man made lakes are not susceptible to flooding??

Maybe "man" needs to plan better then..:)

Sorry you are taking this so personally.. better up the Xanax dose :rofl:

[KitchenWitch]

9. You know, people said essentially the same thing to us in SoCal when we had the wildfires last fall.

A little compassion is in order.

[Carnea]

10. Yeah because people losing their businesses and houses is so funny.

I reminded of the British couple that left England after Reagan and Thatcher were elected convinced there would be a nuclear war.

So the found the most peaceful and remote place they could.

They moved to the Falkland Islands.

[PeaceNikki]

11. I'll echo others in expressing sadness that homes and business were lost

This will be a huge economic and emotional hit to a tight-knit community.

[Mutley]

26. I'd have to say nature did not intend man to live in FL either.

Just sayin'. :shrug:

[sasquatch]

28. Or Arizona

[Mutley]

31. Or anywhere within 500 miles of a fault line

which pretty much leaves us ALL screwed.

:D

[huskerlaw]

13. I'm sorry but...

you're from SoCal and you're ranting about people living where they shouldn't?? Come on! :rofl:

We get our freaking water from a mountain hundreds of miles away! Or from lakes not much closer that we've nearly sucked dry. And then there are the earthquakes, the fires and the mudslides.

So really, you've got to be joking. If there's one region of the country that has no right to diss people for living where mother nature did not intend them to live, it's Southern California.

[SoCalDem]

16. Not a "rant"..just a comment..

We lived a mile away from Lake Michigan for many years, and one could barely GET to the lakefront because of the fortresses built by the rich-folks.. The lakefront was "available" to everyone, but the ACCESS was never very available..yet every storm cycle, those same rich people would go on TV begging for help to "save their homes" from falling into the lake due to the regular cycle of erosion..

One of the best letters to the editors I ever read was from a guy who suggested they use all the "posted-no trespassing-stay out-private property" signs to hold back Lake Michigan..

I KNOW I live in earthquake country, and I fully accept that IF a "big one" comes, we'll suffer damage.. I can't do anything about it..BUT if I choose to put my home right next to a body of water, I think I MIGHT just expect that someday, somehow, I might get flooded out..or if I built my house in a fire-prone canyon, I might expect to get burned out..

There ARE places that are just more prone to damage..and hey.. I'm glad that you are ok with your insurance rates going up and up because some rich folks get new houses because they built in a dangerous place..

People who live in other states never seem to mind the money that california generates...that goes to you all too , y'know :)

[KitchenWitch]

17. You know what, I do NOT live in a fire prone canyon. But the Santiago Canyon fire came within

ONE mile of my house, and the fire was no longer in the canyon by then. I honestly thought where we lived was NOT fire prone. Until we were told to be ready to evacuate.

The point is, Lake Delton, much like our Running Springs, Big Bear, etc, is a weekend destination for people who live in Milwaukee and Madison. Recreation IS the economy there. The lake having disappeared is a huge deal to those people.

[SoCalDem]

18. And no doubt they have insurance. All I meant was that nature is quirky

and can "take back" what we claim as OURS..

The huge fire in 1980 came close to our house in Corona too, but as houses creep into areas that used to be UNpopulated, there WILL be more losses.. It's just a fact.. we may not like it, but there it is.:)

[huskerlaw]

25. I live in Los Angeles

so don't put me in the "people who live in other states" category.

Your comment was about people living where they shouldn't. You and I happen to live in an area that is the poster child for places that people shouldn't live (or certainly, places that are incapable of sustaining the number of people who live there). It goes beyond the earthquake potential. We steal our water from other places. We pollute the hell out of the Pacific ocean. As far as building houses on waterfront property is concerned, we're a freakin' poster child for that too! Or have you not been to Malibu (or any other oceanside community) recently?

Of course you accept the risk of an earthquake by living here. But that doesn't mean you wouldn't expect some sympathy if your house and wellbeing were destroyed.

There are very, very few places in this country that are not in danger of some sort of natural disaster. We'd have very few places to live if that was our criteria for building. But when you live in the mother of all natural disaster-prone areas, you probably shouldn't be pointing fingers at other people.

[SoCalDem]

30. ..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7814314&mesg_id=7814556

The last beach sand i walked on was in Tahiti..in 2003.. We have lived here since 1979 and calif beaches are too icky to ever consider going to.. Went once back in 1981 so the kids could see the ocean..

We took them to San Felipe,Baja for beach time..

[Sequoia]

33. Oh, and what about Malibu Beach....no access either.

Or was that changed recently. I used to live there and we'd be hanging out and some dude would come run us off the beach. We just treked down a bit and didn't leave though. Jerks.

[huskerlaw]

34. There's one beach in Malibu that's totally private

I believe it's Malibu Colony. Otherwise, if you can find access, they should all be public. We spend a lot of time on the beach off Malibu Road and also Carbon Canyon...no problems with access at either of those.

[PVnRT]

2. Holy shit. I've been fishing on that lake.

Eaten at one of the restaurants overlooking it too :(

[PeaceNikki]

3. I've been there a number of times, too. Sad.

:(

[mokawanis]

5. bad news but

I always resented the fact that that area is so over-developed and commercialized. I've avoided the area for many years for that reason. There's so many other places to see here in WI, the Dells is a dump.

[PeaceNikki]

8. There are a lot of people whose jobs and income are in jeopardy.

:(

[SoCalDem]

19. We always heard about the dells, but never went there.. It sounded to me like a Poconos-type place

We lived in Michigan City , IN..and a lot of people we knew had visited the Dells..

[KitchenWitch]

6. Dang I used to go there almost every summer.

[PeaceNikki]

7. I know... it's sad.

"You could see everything just flowing that direction pretty quick. It went from 12 feet of water to almost no water," said Zowin. "I saw a lot of fish flopping around. I saw some people transporting them to deeper pools of water and some of them were taking them home to eat."

Zowin was in a boat towing a customer's pontoon boat when it started getting sucked toward the breach. He managed to tow it to safety though right now it's upside down because of the turbulent water.

Zowin, who opened his boat rental business in 1979, saw a couple of homes begin to fall apart and then get swept away.

"The first one that I witnessed was being undermined and then it just broke in half and half of it fell into the new channel and then it sailed away and disappeared," Zowin said in a phone interview.

"I also saw a mother mallard stay with her three ducklings which couldn't fly yet and they couldn't get away. But she stayed right with them. They got sucked into the hole but they made it through. That's probably the only nice thing I saw."

Zowin estimates Lake Delton was about 12 feet deep with the deepest spot right in front of the dam around 16 feet. About 80% of Zowin's business is boat and wave runner rentals along with a parasailing operation. He knows he is facing a financial hardship since his business, like Lake Delton, has dried up.

[Connonym]

12. 2 of the 5 bridges that span the river in my town are closed

all 5 are being inspected for structural integrity. The Fox River is expected to crest at a record high tomorrow. We live on high ground so I'm not worried about water here but if they don't get those bridges back open it's going to be chaos. The downtown area is flooded and they've got it closed off. The bridge nearest the hospital is open but the road has standing water. We're really fucked if they have to close that one. I don't know how they'd reroute traffic to the hospital.

[PeaceNikki]

22. Wow... I'm glad you and your family are safe.

:hug:

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. A big part of my childhood is gone then too.

I have cousins in the area. Thanks for the heads up. I will give them a call. :(

[PeaceNikki]

20. Milwaukee and Waukesha were nailed this weekend.

Compared to a lot of people, we were very lucky.
These were in front of my house:

[KitchenWitch]

23. That looks like either Cedarburg or Mequon

[PeaceNikki]

24. Delafield, Chenequa, Hartland, Pewaukeeish

B-)

[KitchenWitch]

37. Ah, near Lake Nagawicka!

:D

[PeaceNikki]

38. And Pine Lake, Pewaukee Lake and Lake Okauchee, Lac La Belle, Beaver Lake, North Lake, Lake 5

Nashotah, Silver Lake and on and on. :D

Yes, That's why they call it "Lake Country".

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=43.101986,-88.406296&spn=0.147145,0.240326&z=12

[KitchenWitch]

39. My aunt and uncle have a home on the lagoon by Lake Nagawicka

[PeaceNikki]

40. Nice! Are they in one of the new homes or older one that they've been tearing down to McMansion it?

I actually took some pics on Lake Nagawicka about a year and a half ago:

[KitchenWitch]

41. They have an older home, in among a bunch of older homes

My uncle was the mayor of Delafield at one time.

[realisticphish]

15. There are a LOT

of nervous mafia guys right now

[PeaceNikki]

21. hee

:rofl:

[PeaceNikki]

27. Video of homes being swept away here

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25063019#25063019

[mokawanis]

32. the full scale

of the destruction is plain to see on that video. The entire lake emptied into the river.

[JVS]

29. I wonder how long it will take to re-fill the lake if they just repair the dam and wait.

[dolo amber]

35. That's a whole lot of suck

:(

[PeaceNikki]

36. Indeed.

:(