Flooding hits the Fox Valley for second time in 8 days; Lifest campers see flooded tents

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Flooding hits the Fox Valley for second time in 8 days; Lifest campers see flooded tents

APPLETON — Just eight days after flooding damaged property and led to evacuations in the city of Appleton, another round of storms added insult to injury Saturday night.

The National Weather Service Green Bay’s flash flood warning, which ran until 11 p.m. Saturday night, covered Appleton, as well as Kaukauna and Little Chute, and a post to the service’s

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page asking for documentation of rainfall and flooding was filled with pictures of residential backyards turned into ponds, flooded streets and filled rain gauges.

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Flooding filled backyards in Combined Locks on July 13, 2024. This photo from Tina Voight, of Combined Locks, offers a glimpse into what several Fox Cities residents experienced.

An after-midnight post to the city of Appleton’s

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page Sunday morning, along with a video by Mayor Jake Woodford, detailed the city’s steps to ensure safety and begin working, once again, on recovery.

“A storm moved into the city of Appleton, which according to the National Weather Service, dropped over 3 inches of rain on significant portions of the city in a relatively brief ******* of time,” Woodford said. He said that while there were reports of wind and hail, the rainfall was the “most concerning.”

Woodford added that he convened a meeting of the city’s emergency operations center to coordinate their response across city departments.

“The National Weather Service shared data with the city of Appleton on rainfall over the course of the summer, and it has been significantly wetter” than in ordinary years, Woodford said. “So the situation is made more difficult by the fact that the ground is so saturated with water already.”

Governor Tony Evers on Friday declared a state of emergency for several counties in the region, including Outagamie, to aid with recovery after the July 5 flooding.

What’s next for Appleton? Forecast includes a chance of rain Sunday night, Monday

The city woke up Sunday morning to more rain, though it cleared up early in the day. As for the forecast, the National Weather Service expects a

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Sunday night, and an increasing chance of precipitation as the day wears on Monday, from “slight” in the morning to “likely” after 1 p.m.

In

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, Woodford expressed concern about the Sunday night and Monday forecast.

“Unfortunately, the city of Appleton faces an ongoing risk of flash flooding if we receive additional heavy rains, because the ground hasn’t had an opportunity to dry out yet, and that will take some time,” he said.

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on Sunday, July 14, 2024

Woodford also added that during some of the heaviest rain Saturday, city staff saw some drivers entering flooded streets without realizing it.

“That’s why we’re sending out alerts and reminding people about avoiding driving, if at all possible, during these heavy rains,” he said. “If you get stuck, your property and safety might be at risk, and we have to divert critical response resources to helping stranded motorists.”

Drivers passing through flooded streets can also send wakes towards houses, making an already bad situation worse for the homeowners they pass, he said.

Beyond Monday, Tuesday through next Saturday is currently expected to be sunny and clear, with highs between 75 and 82 degrees.

Flooding also impacted concertgoers at Oshkosh’s Lifest

Further south, in Winnebago County, flooding also disrupted

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held at the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh.

Keriann Fischer-Curtis and her husband, Christopher Curtis, of Manitowoc, were in town, visiting the festival for the first time, excited to see performances by Matt Maher and for King & Country when rain tried to spoil their experience.

“We were thankful to see the beginning of Matt Maher’s show just as the lightning started,” Keriann Fischer-Curtis told the Post-Crescent Sunday morning. “It must’ve knocked the power out at the Grandstand, and then Matt left the stage and (a) Lifest official came onto the stage to warn us to seek shelter immediately. And that’s when the rain started pouring.”

The Curtises were camping on the grounds, along with Keriann’s cousin, Melissa Denault, and her boyfriend. When they returned to their tents, they found them beginning to flood.

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Keriann Fischer-Curtis, at left, and her cousin, Melissa Denault, pose in floodwaters at Lifest in Oshkosh on July 13, 2024. The duo, along with Keriann’s husband and Melissa’s boyfriend, left the festival after their campsite flooded.

“We waited for about 30 minutes watching our campsite fill with even more water,” she said. “We were soaked head to toe and it took an hour or so to get everything off the site. Since we had no dry clothes, we called it and decided it was best to head home before it got worse.”

While Denault’s tent was damaged as the group tried to break down their campsite, Keriann Fischer-Curtis said most of the stuff in her tent was dry — though walking around inside the tent itself felt like walking on a waterbed.

“The best part was all the help we received from other campers,” she said, adding people helped haul their bags, coolers and air mattresses out, and helped them take down tents. “From little kids, maybe as young as 7, to teenage ****** and boys and even some families. That was a huge blessing. They all pitched in to help clear out not only myself and my cousin’s site, but the other flooded campers in the Youth City area.”

The Curtises are looking forward to visiting Lifest again next year, though Keriann noted she’ll be more prepared, just incase.

“It certainly earned our camping cred, and a story to tell for the future,” she said.

Taima Kern is editor of The Post-Crescent. Reach her at *****@*****.tld or 920-907-7819.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent:

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