Some areas in Wisconsin have received in excess of 11 inches of rain in just the last 7 days, causing concern last night that a levee holding back water along the Wisconsin River may be about to fail. The levee which was built in the 1890′s clearly is not up to code, causing fear last night among experts in the area that massive flooding may take place in the Portage Wisconsin area should levee failure occur. Unlike newly built levees which are constructed of steel and concrete, this levee, which is 120 years old is made from sand.

This morning the fear turned into reality as the levee in Columbia County did in fact fail. As many as 100 homes may be affected by the raging flood waters today, although experts are not positive how far south the flood waters will travel.

Last evening an alert was sent to emergency management teams in Columbia County urging all residents living near Blackhawk park to evacuate to higher ground. The American Red Cross has set up shelters for those needing it. Experts think that the Wisconsin River, near Portage will remain at flood levels until the very earliest, Wednesday.

“Even though some of these rivers have crested … keep in mind that they’re still in flood, so this is going to be a problem for a couple of days. Many of these rivers are all going to be dumping into the Mississippi River which then in turn will rise up and we’ll see some flooding there, maybe in La Crosse and the Winona areas later in the week,” Stated CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.