Flooding is so bad now in Jefferson County that the official detour for I-94, which is closed Westbound at Johnson Creek, goes nearly through Illinois. I-94 West is now closed at Highway 83 in Waukesha County. The state says several quicker detour routes are now flooded out.
Because of that, the official I-94 west detour now has westbound traffic getting off at Highway 83 in Delafield, heading south to I-43, down to I-90 in Beloit and back to Madison.
The state acknowledges that is a "significant detour." But an official with the DOT says it's the best option at this point. Drivers in cars might be able to find better detours on back roads. The official detour has to use roads that meet certain standards for highway traffic.
Still, Governor Jim Doyle says you might just want to put off any westbound travel at this point.
Also Friday afternoon, the state suspended all oversize and overweight permits because of the flooded roads. That took affect immedeately.
Click Here to read the latest traffic alert from the state.
More Updates Below:
For immediate weather updates: text "weather" to 79008.
Flood Information:
• Information from Racine County
• Information on Interstate Closures in Central Wisconsin
Flood Coverage:
• SE WI to Mother Nature: STOP!!
• Forecast: "Rain in Some Places"
• Fond Du Lac: State of Emergency
• FEMA Begins Assessments
Audio:
• WTMJ Weather Plus Storm Team Meteorologist Craig Koplien on the weather to come
• Fond Du Lac Co. Exec Allen Buechel on the evacuation-or-stay home edict he's had to put on people there.
• We Energies' Brian Manthey on the flow of outages
• Amy Nehls of the Dodge County Emergency Management Team talking about their issues
Video: Houses Swallowed
Photos: TMJ4 | Journal Sentinel
Phone contacts:
• Emergencies Only: 911
• Fond Du Lac County Emergency Shelter Line: 1-920-906-4715 (scroll down for more numbers)
• Milwaukee County Disaster Hotline: 414-278-3000
• City of Milwaukee Flooded Basement Line: 414-286-3427
• Jefferson County (evacuation/other needs hotline) : 920-674-7450
• Jefferson County (road closures) : 920-674-9649
• Racine County (immediate concerns): 262-619-2482
• Racine County (reporting damage): 262-636-3308
• Waukesha Flood Hotline: 262-524-6669
• We Energies: 800-662-4797
Links:
• Fond Du Lac County: Tips on Dealing with Floods
• Help Clean Lake Delton
• Live Radar
• National Weather Service
• Live WX Plus Feed
• Information on river levels in your area
Flood Warnings: Throughout southeast Wisconsin until Saturday
State of Emergency in Fond Du Lac, Oshkosh
The situation has become so bad that Fond Du Lac County is under a State of Emergency.
Civic officials told people stay home unless they were being evacuated. Travel was also being discouraged in Oshkosh.
A combinations of floods, gas leaks and other weather-related issues have made roads impassable.
One caller to Wisconsin's Morning News said that government officials in Fond Du Lac are putting X's on doors of houses where people have evacuated, similar to steps taking during the flooding in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
More, including emergency contact #s: Fond Du Lac - State of Emergency
Can't Get Out of Dodge
Similar requests for restricted travel have come from neighboring Dodge County, which is also massively affected by flooding.
"If you can stay home for any time, please do so, be responsible and take the stress off the system," said Amy Nehls, Dodge County's Emergency Management Director.
"Heavy rains have washed out, or are standing, on many of the roads. They're either closed or impassable.
"We are asking citizens to restrict any non-essential travel, especially in the northern parts of the county."
Skies Will Still Make Parts of the Area Wet
People with flooding issues, whether they're evacuating, worried about future floods coming, or have a basement to dry out, won't like some of what WTMJ Weather Plus Storm Team Meteorologist Craig Koplien has to say about today.
"There's still rain in some places this morning, but this is going to be tapering off as the morning goes on," says Koplien.
"Then, we're going to at least get a couple of dry hours, and maybe, some parts of the area will be dry all afternoon. However, there is a chance that a few scattered thunderstorms will redevelop around noon or early on this afternoon.
More: Forecast "Rain in Some Places"
Flood Warning: Milwaukee River
For the first time this week, Milwaukee County officially has to deal with the same river flooding issues that have more than hampered the rest of Southeastern Wisconsin.
The National Weather Service has now issued a Flood Warning for the Milwaukee River in Milwaukee County.
The flooded river stands just three feet from the property of the Milwaukee Hilton on the 4700 block of North Port Washington Road.
On the bridge just north of there, the waters are just five feet below the river's bottom.
Diane Morgan is the night auditor at the Hilton stated that they've never had to deal with major flooding issues at the river in her 35 years on the job, despite the hotel being so close to the banks.
"It just goes over the banks, flows out into the parking lot, then recedes right back into the river," says Morgan.
Video: Milwaukee River at Port Washington Road/Hilton | Diane Morgan of Hilton Hotel
Lots of Reported Funnels
One confirmed tornado touchdown happened in Sheboygan County in the town of Haven, most known as the home of the Whistling Straits golf course.
A large number of other reports came in of funnels, including Dodge, Sheboygan and Walworth counties. Two unconfirmed tornadoes also hit Grant Counties.
More Floods, More Problems
In some places, reports of four inches of rain have come in today.
Even in places with less, the downpours that occurred will only worsen the flooding that's already been threatening multiple dams west of Milwaukee.
Many roads and freeways continue to be closed in the area, including Jefferson County, where I-94 Westbound continues to be closed at the Rock River.
That's where the Sheriff's office has people evacuating.
"Going door to door, offering people the option, letting them know it would probably be a good idea to find another residence for another time," said Sheriff Paul Milbrath.
His deputies have set up a shelter at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
When it comes to the already high levels, and the rain that's now been added, the question becomes: when does it get better?
Not for at least a couple days.
"Tomorrow, and Saturday for some crest dates, and Monday in Fort Atkinson would be a crest."
Power Outages
The worst outages We Energies had to deal with brought up to 19,000 the total number of customers without power.
Brian Manthey, a We Energies spokesman, now says 1,000 customers still don't have power.
He says as storms came through in the overnight, the numbers rose, but fell again in the last couple of hours.
Pleasant Prairie currently has the largest concentrations of outages at this point.
FEMA Starts Seeing Damage
Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration officials have fanned across southern Wisconsin to gauge damage from this week's heavy rains, tornadoes and floods.
The teams conducted visual checks, gathered information on how many people were insured and got a sense of how taxed state and local resources have been, FEMA spokeswoman Hannah Vick said.
The damage assessments are a first step in the process of declaring a federal disaster.
More: FEMA Begins Assessments
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
