A Month After Floods, Northern Wisconsin Needs Rain

One month after ten inches of rain flooded far northern Wisconsin, causing millions of dollars in damage, communities are rebuilding. Ironically, the area could now use some rain.

In a June 20th interview, Superior Mayor Bruce Hagen couldn’t believe what he saw. Parts of his city were underwater, “I drove by several homes that I just can’t believe that they’re not destroyed. And if there’s people in them, they probably couldn’t even exit without assistance.”

Some 500 homes were damaged. UW-Superior’s repair costs continue to rise: It may take $20 million to fix that campus. But over the past month, the skies have been mostly clear. National Weather Service Meteorologist Carol Christenson says temperatures this month are five degrees above normal and rainfall is just about an inch so far. The normal amount is four inches. “So you can see that some places are 3 inches below normal for the month of July. So it’s been dry.”

It has been a little too dry for farmers. Ashland/Bayfield County Agriculture Agent Jason Fischbach says the situation is good: “Um, lucky, to put it short. We have actually had a decent growing season, knock on wood. Things have come through okay. The blueberries and raspberries up in Bayfield look fantastic and they’re picking right now. Apples are going to be a little light, especially in some orchards with the early frost that we had.”

Fischbach says corn, soy beans, all the crops are doing fine except now, he says: Now they could use some rain.