Local emergency manager says we’re seeing 100-year floods every year

We hear very heavy rainfalls and flash floods often referred to by experts as a ‘100-year’ or ‘500-year’ flood because of the slim odds of such a disaster happening.

But La Crosse County emergency management coordinator Keith Butler says those labels don’t fit anymore, in an era of climate change.

“A one percent chance every year, so they ended up calling it a 100-year flood,” Butler said Wednesday morning on WIZM. “That’s not the same anymore. We’re seeing floods almost every year.”

Butler added that forecasters knew that a storm system would bring a lot of rain to western Wisconsin on Monday but they couldn’t tell how long the rain would last or where the most damage would be.

“Starting in the eventing and pretty much all overnight hours, some communities were seeing greater than a half of foot of rain and some even close to a foot,” Butler said. “That just overwhelms streams. They got nowhere to go. They end up on roads and they end up in houses.”

Butler said mud getting into flooded homes is nasty, because it increases the chance of mold growing indoors.

As for when the weather service issues a severe weather ‘watch,’ it wants you to pay attention for bad conditions on the way. Many local communities, which were in watch areas Monday night, received several inches of rain from the storm.

“These have been happening overnight, when you’re probably asleep, probably don’t have a television on, you may not be listening to local radio,” Butler said. “You need to be mindful at any moment these horrible horrible storms can dump pile loads of rain.”

Butler also warned that drivers who come upon flooded roads to turn around, instead of trying to travel on a flooded street.

He’s hearing about widespread loss of corn and other crops in the extreme southeast corner of La Crosse County.