Flooded Wisconsin town gasps for life

GAYS MILLS, Wis. (AP) | Water built this southwestern Wisconsin village. Now water is draining the life out of it.

Twice in 10 months, driving rainstorms sent the Kickapoo River rushing over its banks, drowning the town in butterscotch-colored slime. Each time, scores of residents fled.

Now, four months later, dozens still haven’t returned, leaving behind deserted neighborhoods, ruined homes and village leaders fighting to keep their hometown from going under for good.

“It’s an aging, dying community to start with, and then you put us under 4 feet of water twice,” said Pam Lojewski, the pastor at the village’s Lutheran church.

The town, about 100 miles west of Madison, claimed 625 residents in the 2000 census. Once built around a sawmill, it now touts itself as the Apple Capital of Wisconsin, playing off the orchards that cap the surrounding ridges.

The village looks like any other small town, complete with a Main Street barbershop, grocery store, tavern and gas station. The only distinctive features are an industrial park north of town, the river and the bluffs, which offer stunning vistas and peaceful isolation.

The 2000 census reported the village’s median household income as $29,250, nearly $15,000 less than the state’s median income. About 11 percent of its families were in poverty in 1999.

About 150 of the village’s 230 homes lie in the Kickapoo flood plain. In August 2007, heavy storms created flash floods that swept through in the middle of the night. Volunteer firefighters roused people out of bed and told them to run.

In June, storms that flooded much of the upper Midwest swelled the Kickapoo again, forcing another evacuation. No one died in either flood, but nearly 60 homes sustained substantial damage.

Reminders are everywhere. Water marks ring buildings. In the town’s residential core, crumpled sheds lay. Home after home stands empty.

Village officials estimate that 30 to 45 homes stand vacant. They think dozens of people have left. Charley Preusser, editor of the local Crawford County Independent and Kickapoo Scout newspapers, estimated that about 120 people - about a fifth of the population - may be gone.

Fewer residents mean less tax revenue, which could mean higher taxes for people who stay. A depleted population also means fewer customers for businesses.

A long-term recovery committee has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state to come up with a plan.

Part of it calls for getting FEMA and state dollars to people who want to elevate their homes or sell them to the village so they can be demolished. Another component includes buying land within the village limits but outside the flood plain. The idea is to give residents who take buyouts dry space to rebuild as well as attract new residents.

“We’re trying to build this town for our future,” said committee member Dietrich Smith. “I’m done getting my feet wet and I want to take as many people with me as I can.”