The Manawa dam on Monday, July 8, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANAWA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Monday marked three days since water first began overflowing from the Manawa Mill Pond Dam.
Officials from the city of Manawa, Waupaca County and the state of Wisconsin continue to survey the aftermath.
On Monday, the city and others in the county held meetings to discuss next steps, as cleanup and recovery efforts are ongoing.
“The amazing thing is how much everybody has helped. We have people here right now from the [Department of Public Works] of Clintonville, Waupaca and New London that are going to help our city crew clean out all our storm sewers because there’s a lot of wash out down below,” said Manawa Mayor Mike Frazier.
A portion of County Highway B near the rodeo grounds remained closed Monday. The state Department of Transportation was in Manawa Monday to inspect the CTH B bridge, as well as numerous other bridges in town.
“So far, nothing super alarming. Some minor silting, so, as of right now, I have no major concerns, but we’re gonna keep looking at it, monitoring it,” said Mariah Krueger, a structure inspection program manager with the Wisconsin DOT.
Another area the city urges residents to avoid right now is Lindsay Park, which is closed until further notice.
Director of Public Works Josh Smith says they will complete testing at that location for potential contamination.
“We’re just erring on the side of caution, considering that the wastewater treatment plant did flood out and parts of it did flood out there,” said Smith.
While floodwaters have subsided, the community continues to clean up.
The city made dumpsters available behind the Little Wolf High and Manawa Middle School for residents to toss damaged materials — excluding electronics and appliances.
Jeff Zinuticz drove all the way from Port Washington to help clear out his father’s house.
“We collected sports memorabilia, baseball cards and stuff for a long time. We had a separate room that was kind of like an old pantry so it was more, you know, climate controlled and stuff. And some stuff is off the ground, there’s shelves in there. But, yeah I threw away, a lot of, pretty, kind of a sad day. A lot of my, a lot of water-logged baseball and football cards and stuff,” said Zinuticz.
The city says it will not qualify for FEMA funding, and asks community members to work with their individual insurance companies.
The city of Manawa says it hopes the bridge at County Highway B will re-open by the end of the week.
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