From Tribune files: 2008 flooding in the La Crosse area
This week marks the 11th anniversary of the start of the devastating 2008 floods in southern Wisconsin. Three people were killed and thousands of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed as flood waters impacted 31 counties for almost a month. It was the worst disaster since the Great Floods of 1993 that hit the Midwest.
La Farge
Firefighters evacuated about 50 homes as water covered downtown La Farge.
La Farge
Emilee Nottestad, owner of the Zzip Stop in La Farge, changes the sign outside the store as the flood waters creep up.
La Farge
Pat Palmer looks out at receding flood waters from the shop area of his business, Equipment Associates LLC, in downtown La Farge.
Viola
 The village of Viola is seen mostly underwater.
Ontario
A lone canoe, probably from a nearby rental business, rests in a field where flood waters discarded in Ontario.
Gays Mills
Personnel from the Gays Mills Volunteer Fire Department navigate flooded downtown Gays Mills by boat.
Gays Mills
Volunteer firefighter Ron Tanling checks the current flowing through a downtown street. The houses and businesses in Gays Mills are empty after heavy rains flooded the town.
Gays Mills
Crews prepare to venture down Gays Mills' flooded Main Street to check buildings for damage and provide any needed assistance.
Gays Mills
Flash floods inundate Gays Mills.
Gays Mills
Mickelson's Market & Meats had water 4 inches deep.
Gays Mills
Gays Mills volunteer firefighter Jeff Welsh pulls a boat and fellow fire fighter Pete Herold through water from the flooding Kickapoo River.
Gays Mills
Much of Gays Mills was under water in the 2008 flood.
Chaseburg
Flood waters damage homes in lower Chaseburg.
Steuben
Jeff and Missy Heisz of Steuben take their boat across flooded Bridge Street. What was a two-minute crossing by boat took two hours to drive on the only roads open after the Kickapoo River spilled over its banks, flooding the center of the village.
Steuben
Floodwaters reach the end of Midway Street in Steuben after sandbagging efforts failed to keep the overflowing Kickapoo River at bay.
Lake Delton
A home near the 254-acre Lake Delton in Lake Delton, Wisconsin was damaged when flood waters breached the bank and drained the lake Monday, June 9, 2008. Floodwater washed away three houses and threatened dams in Wisconsin as military crews joined desperate sandbagging operations to hold back Indiana streams surging toward record levels.
Lake Delton
As Lake Delton poured into the Wisconsin River, erosion undercut the foundations of this home, and it tumbled into the flow. Four houses slid into the water after the rain-swollen lake started overflowing the finger of land that separated it from the river.
Lake Delton
As Lake Delton poured into the Wisconsin River, erosion undercut the foundations of this home, and it tumbled into the flow. Four houses slid into the water after the rain-swollen lake started overflowing the finger of land that separated it from the river.
Lake Delton
The waters of Lake Delton storm through a 500-foot drain, leaving Highway A at cliffs' edge, pulling along five homes in the rush and carving a new route to a flood-swollen Wisconsin River.
Lake Delton
Lake Delton at the Village of Delton on Monday, June 9, 2008.Â
Lake Delton
A washed out Highway A that was damaged when the water ran out of Lake Delton Monday morning.
Portage
Floodwaters inundate Interstate 90-94 at Highway 33 west of Portage Friday, leading to miles of Interstate closings all the way to Madison.Â
Pardeeville
Flooding closed a street near downtown Pardeeville.
Pardeeville
Resourceful Pardeeville officials created a plastic-and-sandbag slip-and-slide arrangement to channel water overflowing from Park Lake to keep it from eroding Highway 22 and flowing into the downtown.
Park Lake
Park Lake, left, flows into Spring Lake on Friday afternoon through a makeshift plastic and sandbag channel that was constructed Monday. Half of Highway 22 and much of the dirt and sidewalks collapsed Saturday morning when the lake crested over the sandbags.
Blooming Grove
Blooming Grove farmer Roxie Stillman estimates 40 animals were drowned when a pasture flooded overnight on her farm along Hwy. AB in the town of Blooming Grove, Wis. on Monday, June 9, 2008. She raises a variety of livestock including sheep, goats, llamas and cattle. The building at right still had live chickens trapped inside of it.Â
Avoca
A prank in Carol Wardell's yard proved prophetic as floodwaters filled the village of Avoca Friday.
Avoca
Arlyne Sturdevant, 77, wades toward her home Friday afternoon to retrieve a few belongings before leaving for the night. Residents were allowed back into their homes for a short time to begin to assess the flood damage.
Beaver Dam
The Beaver Dam River rages through downtown Beaver Dam. The river is typically 2 feet deep and 10 feet wide, but heavy rains caused a surge unseen in the city's history.
Jefferson
The flood waters that inundated the Burger Corner in Jefferson floated coolers and freezers which knocked holes into the restaurant's roof.
Jefferson
Del Chmielewski, an accountant in Jefferson, wades through waist-deep water around a rental house he owns, which was flooded by the Rock and Crawfish rivers.
Jefferson
A home at South Center Avenue and East Dane Street in Jefferson gets another round of sandbags.
Spring Green
Most buildings escaped damage within the village of Spring Green as most of the water stayed in roads and ditches. But just outside the village, three dozen residents were evacuated from the Prairie Subdivision.
Rock Springs
Rock Springs Fire Dept. Captain Skip Watkins drives three teens across the flooded town.
Reedsburg
A Farmstead located West of Reedsburg, Wis., was mostly underwater Monday June 9, 2008.
Rainfall and flooding of historic proportions struck parts of the upper Mississippi River valley on Aug 18-19, 2007. Seven people were killed,…
