More Flood Coverage

By NBC15 News Reporter Dana Brueck.

In Rock County the water has yet to go down in some places. In others, it's still expected to rise.

Our first stop, south of Janesville. We're on Christianson Road in the Town of Rock, where people have seen conditions like this in the past. Officials say the water is high but it's not out of the ordinary yet given the time of year.

Rewind almost a year ago ... Dave Wastak was busy repairing his home at the same spot in Afton after ice jams flooded it in Winter. NBC15 talked with him when the Rock River was about 2-feet above flood stage. "We think we've reached the worst of what can happen." A summer of record-setting flooding in South Central Wisconsin was yet to come...which is why people say today they're a bit more nervous.

"Even though we're concerned, as you can see it hasn't reached our panic point yet."

Still, Donna Knipp says she's anxiously watching the river from the porch of her Newville home.

"Just hope the torrential rains don't come in April... so... a nice hot desert wind would be nice."

Nearby on Lake Koshkonong, John Wedel's already facing water at his front porch. In the floodplain, Wedel has flood insurance, but his rental home's already suffered 50-thousand dollars in damage last year.

"This had over a foot of water in it last year, and the inside had to be completely gutted, and then we just got it back to where it's all fixed and now this, it's kind of scary, he says, "If the projections are right, we'll be ok but any more major storms, before it gets a chance to go down and we could be back right where we were last year."

Another area of concern -- the homes on Grass Lake and here on Clear Lake. People who live in the area say the water never went down after last year's rain and with no drainage for these lakes, there's little that homeowners can do.

Rock County Emergency Management is monitoring the situation but says some flooding this time of year is typical. The Rock River is forecast to reach moderate flood stage at Newville and Afton within the next two to three days.