Oshkosh swamped

Oshkosh swamped

In Oshkosh, three-quarters of all streets were underwater, city spokesman John Urben said.

By 8 pm, 4.6 inches of water had fallen in the city, and the 9th Avenue Bridge over Sawyer Creek was overtopped with water.

Oshkosh police were directing city buses to pick up stranded motorists, Urben said.

At peak, about 19,000 We Energies customers in southeastern Wisconsin were without power, utility spokesman Barry McNulty said.

The bulk of those power failures — affecting about 11,500 customers — were in Waukesha County, where strong winds, lightning and downed tree limbs affected substations and took out wires, McNulty said.

By 9 p.m. about 5,300 customers were still without power, McNulty said.

The National Weather Service said there may have been eight tornadoes by 7:30 p.m., although not all had been confirmed.

It listed twisters between Pardeeville and Friesland in Columbia County; near Markesan in Green Lake County; near Cambridge in Dane County; near Mayville in Dodge County; in northeast Green County; near Haven in Sheboygan County; between Cambridge and Stoughton in Dane County; and north of Platteville in Grant County.

In Delafield, record high water on Lake Nagawicka went down 2 to 3 inches overnight Wednesday, but the city continued sandbagging Thursday in the event more rainfall causes the Bark River Dam to fail, Delafield Fire Chief Jack Edwards said.

“We have a bit of breathing room now,” he said of the lake water receding. “But our main concern is the forecast and how much rain we get” Thursday.

Summit Police Chief James Race said the water level of Upper Nemahbin Lake below the mill pond dam rose overnight.

Waukesha County Highway DR near Venice Beach Road at the channel between Upper and Lower Nemahbin Lakes remained closed Thursday.

Race said water over the road was as high as 22 inches and nearly floated away his Ford Expedition SUV when he tried to drive through it.

As many as 10 families have evacuated their homes on Upper Nemahbin Lake because of high water, Race said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency dispatched four-member teams on Thursday to Vernon, Columbia, Crawford, Milwaukee and Sauk counties.