OCONTO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – About ten inches of snow blanketed Oconto over the weekend. And while that seems like a typical Wisconsin winter storm, many residents are concerned over what comes next.
Ice jams caused the Oconto River to back up and flood neighborhoods in December.
City leaders say dozens of homes were impacted, but overall damage wasn’t considered major.
Preparations are underway right now, for the next round of high water.
Thousands of sand bags are filled and ready to go, and the city’s meeting with people to keep them informed.
“That wall of water, well it hit the ice and it just came shooting through here, just like a tidal wave,” said Don Exferd, Oconto.
Exferd says he remembers the December night when the Oconto River backed up shoving ice into his yard, and sending four feet of water into the basement.
“We voluntarily evacuated, but we lost our furnace, hot water heater, washer-dryer, all that kind of stuff,” said Debbie Exferd, Oconto.
Debbie Exferd shared the story at a flooding information meeting Monday morning at Oconto City Hall. Public Works Superintendent Jeremy Wusterbarth says the city learned a lot from the recent flood. He says water levels on the Bay of Green Bay could rise about another foot this year. People can sign up for a notification system called CodeRED,
“I’m excited about that, because I would like to be alerted if there’s something in an emergency, and it’s going on,” said Ruth Novak, Oconto.
“Being prepared is 90 percent dealing with this. It’s not going to change the outcome. You got to learn to deal with it,” said Joe Watt, Oconto.
And at the County Recycling Center nearby, pallets of filled sand bags ready to go. The stockpile is expected to reach 10,000.
“We never want to overlook evacuation. Sometimes you can sandbag all you want. It’s not going to stop that level of water. So when we ask you to evacuate, you need to evacuate,” said Jeremy Wusterbarth, Oconto Public Works Superintendent.
And as people here continue to clean up after Winter Storm Eleanor, some say the next round of high water could arrive at anytime.
“We didn’t expect it at the end of December, and it could be two weeks from now again. With all the snow that we’re having. If we get an unusual warm spell again, and so much melting,” said Don Exferd, Oconto.
