A dam breach on Friday forced the evacuation of Manawa. By Saturday morning water had receded and cleanup was underway. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANAWA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A river flood warning remained in effect in Waupaca County, on Saturday, south of Manawa’s breached dam, following Friday’s heavy rainfall.
While the dam didn’t break, erosion around it sent water rushing down the Little Wolf River. The flood waters that overwhelmed Manawa and clean up was underway.
The Saturday sunshine was a welcome scene in Manawa after flash flooding and a dam breach forced evacuations in town 24 hours earlier.
“It was an absolute white sheets that just stayed and there was no wind. And the water just kept going up and up,” said Mayor Mike Frazier.
Resident Carol Mauser added, “This is, the power of water. My brother always said that water will win and evidently it did this time.”
But, looking down Main Street you would have never known about Friday’s flood. The beautiful summer day bringing gawkers to town to see for themselves.
Larry and Bernie Kuepper from Fox Crossing were in town to see, “The dam. The dam, just checking out the damage. Just happy that it wasn’t any worse than it was.”
While city officials continued to assess damage, specifically concerned with the wastewater treatment plant that was overwhelmed with water.
“I still got crews actively working to get pumps up and going and kind of getting everything leveled out there. Pumps starting leveling out and sewer basically was receding, it was about 8, 9 o’clock, everything was starting to calm down,” said public works director, Josh Smith.
Lindsay Athletic Park will remain closed, until the sewage sludge can be cleaned up.
Meanwhile, homeowners who were overwhelmed by the heavy rainfall are literally picking up the pieces and throwing them out today.
The Elmhorst family cleaning up the lower levels of their home after taking in so much water.
“It’s great to have family here to help and to demo and do that stuff downstairs. I’m just thankful my family is safe and everybody in town is safe and we’ll move forward,” said Brian Elmhorst who had a house full of people tearing out drywall and removing carpeting and flooring.
Manawa Community Living Center is moving forward too. With little on the inside, and residents safely staying at the veterans home in King, where they were evacuated to on Friday afternoon, the owner plans to do some renovations including painting the entire interior and waxing the floors while the place is empty.
“When the patients come back and the families come back in, they feel like, welcome home,” said owner Philip Castleberg.
He expects the interior work to take about seven to ten days to complete.
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