that lake is gone

[low_delta]

Mikhail alerted me to this one.

Wisconsin Dells is a tourist town in south-central Wisconsin. If you're from the midwest, you've probably been there. Near the Wisconsin River, there's a lake. A lot of rich people have homes there, and there's a water ski show that happens every night. Oh, a "Ski, Sky and Stage" show. That's pretty much the attraction that founded the town. Anyway...

Lake Delton is a man-made lake. I didn't realize that, or had forgotten. The dam is about 1000 yards from the lake. The lake was really high because of the heavy rains we had over the weekend. Officials sandbagged the dam, but the water rose so high it crossed a nearby road, and then started running down the hill. It dug a channel, and as the flow picked up, cut through the road, and eventually, the entire lake emptied through the new canyon.

You can see video of houses being swept down the newly created river.

http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/19663084.html
They're in the little video window in the middle of the page. The "Home Swept Down River" video is the short one. The "Live Cut-in" is the longest one.

Fortunately, there are no reports of injuries, but several business make their livelihoods on the lake.

Comments

[roadskoller.livejournal.com]

Wasn,t that footage incredible? That's the sort of thing you expect out of California.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

It does look like a mudslide.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if the Hwy 23 bridge over the river in our town will get hit by house debris. We were dealing w/the flooding by us when this was going on in Lake Delton, and I had heard something about an earthen dam at Lake Delton this morning, but I didn't know the import of it.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

And it wasn't even the dam that broke!

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

"wasn't even the dam that broke" - That explains some of what they were saying on MSNBC. I thought the dam had broken.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

it's got to be heartbreaking
Even if it is your summer home.

Some of the stuff in the Dells is fun. Like the Duck tours that take you onto the river, though the woods, and... onto Lake Delton. But it still has water parks, which are fun, if you're into that sort of thing. It used to be smaller and cheesier. Now it's big money, with resorts, water parks, casinos, water parks, amusement parks and water parks.

[msfledermaus.livejournal.com]

I've been following this for a bit now...you guys just be very careful, huh? I saw the picture you had of the overflowing bit in your town. Beautiful and soooooo scary!

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

I hope they can stop the debris before it takes out another dam or a bridge... Another concern is whether the Mirror Lake banks and/or dam will hold.