Short-lived rain storm brings worries back to homeowners

By Aldrich M. Tan • of The Northwestern • July 11, 2008

A thunderstorm that passed over Oshkosh late Thursday afternoon caused another round of localized street flooding.

At about 6 p.m. on Thursday, a cluster of thunderstorms coming from western Wisconsin dropped an inch of rain, said Roy Eckberg, meteorologist at National Weather Services in Green Bay.

The storms also brought lightening and high winds at 43 miles per hour, Eckberg said.

Anderson, who lives on Fulton Avenue, said the first thing he could think was, "Oh, no, here we go again."

On West Eighth Street, in one of the areas hardest hit by flooding in June, a large portion of the 600 block flooded with about a foot of water.

Resident Joe Corrales, whose basement was still dry, worried that additional rain tonight could damage basements that are still drying out from the June 12 storm that dropped more than 6 inches of rain on the city.

"If we get any more, we'll be flooded again," he said.

One of the basements that did get flooded was at the home of Lori Stang, who had recently replaced storm-damaged appliances in her basement.

As the stench of sewage filled her home, Stang watched three inches of water gurgle back into her basement, while making frantic calls to the city and the police for help.

City public works employees from the street division went to Stang's home at about 7 p.m. and said there was a problem with the street's sewage system.

The storm sewer in front of Stang's home was full of water but the sewers on the sides of the block were not. Ideally, the water should also be going into those sewers too.

Stang said she hopes that further inspection will confirm that there is a problem with the sewer system on Ohio Street.

"I can't keep living like this any more," she said.

The rains also delayed, but did not cancel, the weekly Waterfest concert at the Leach Amphitheater.

The Iguanas, a band from New Orleans, performed a 45 minute set at 8 p.m., followed by headliner Sonny Landreth at 9 p.m., Waterfest organizer Mike Dempsey said.

The BoDeans will play Sunday, making up a Waterfest show that was cancelled due to the first round of storms.

No flood-related injuries or incidents were reported, Wrage said. WPS spokesman Bob Hernke had no outages to report.

There were several roads in the county with high water such as at State Highway 116 and Yost Road, according to a dispatcher at the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department.

Friday should be a humid day, but Eckberg expects that more thunderstorms will come over Oshkosh tonight.

Aldrich M. Tan: (920) 426-6663 or atan@thenorthwestern.com.