By Taylor J. Hale

PLOVER — Village Administrator Dan Mahoney briefed board members on the destructive rain and meltwater flooding that recently hit Portage County at the Plover Village Board meeting on Mar. 20.

“The flooding was a historic event,” Mahoney said in an exclusive interview with the Gazette.

“The village has never experienced this type of flooding before, based on conversations with many village residents. We’ve had certain elements of flooding, but never occurring all at the same time, never involving 84 inches of snow cover and never happening at the same time localized flooding was occurring from snowmelt and rain.”

Photo courtesy of the Village of Plover staff.

The severe weather started on Mar. 14, when the basement floods and power outages began. By Mar. 15, the village was evacuating mobile homes and dealing with peak gallon per minute counts at all Plover utility facilities.

“Every department head and every employee stepped up to the plate to address all flooding related issues as calmly and quickly as possible,” Mahoney explained. “Many issues required that departments work 24 hours a day over several days under extreme duress. Through it all, they understood what was required and were up to the task.”

By the evening of Mar. 15, three meltwater surges shook the village, leading to a near imminent failure of the Roosevelt lift station, leaving it nearly besieged with water. Two septic hauler systems were brought to the facility to deal with the flooding.

On Mar. 19 the village dealt with a fourth meltwater surge, occurring mainly in the Arbor Haven Subdivision, ventures to mitigate the water were attempted but failed. Officials closed Pleasant Drive at the east end of the Arbor Haven Subdivision on Mar. 20 and established draining trenches in the surrounding gravel roads to divert the flow. Officials are now compiling damage reports from residents and business owners. Exact figures for damaged personal properties are still being sorted out, but the impact on local businesses is thought to be minimal.

Photo courtesy of the Village of Plover staff.

“The [damage] estimate for businesses is two, based on businesses who have contacted the village,” Mahoney said. “With respect to damage, roads can be fixed, and basements can be repaired. However, there can be lasting effects if those affected by the flood worry if it will happen again. Because of that, the village will research this new event and will look to develop measures that will help minimize a future event. The village will need to work with Portage County and other units of government on such measures because the impacted involves many more communities than the Village of Plover.”

Mahoney is thrilled with the devotion displayed by village staff and residents during the extreme weather.

“The community is to be commended for their response,” he said.

As officials research ways to prevent future flooding, they also seek to aid the public through their water damage issues. Village staff will work with Portage County emergency management faculty to coordinate incoming damage reports. Administrators are now working to inform those affected by flooding how to handle their waterlogged furnishings and building materials.

“The final steps will be to assess the work that we did, identify ways we can improve, and begin a discussion and planning for how to handle future meltwater events that are caused by frozen ground and flash warming events,” Mahoney said.

While the worst of the historical weather event is over, there is still much work to be done. The unrelenting perseverance of Portage County gleams through the murky waters during these trying times, as staff and the community join together to overcome these new hardships to repair their home.

Contact Plover officials with questions regarding the flooding or water damage.

Contact Taylor J. Hale at [email protected] with Portage County news and information.