1 dead as flooding causes evacuations in western Wisconsin

Part of County Highway JJ lies washed out by the Kinnickinnic River east of River Falls on Monday. Flash flooding has made some roads impassable and forced some residents to leave their homes in western Wisconsin, where as many as 6 inches of rain had fallen by Monday. (Andrew Krueger/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

BALDWIN, Wis. (AP) — A 70-year-old man died Monday after his minivan went off the road and became submerged in a ditch as a western Wisconsin village grappled with hours of torrential rain that resulted in home evacuations and heavy floodwaters.

Gary Parent of the town of Emerald, in St. Croix County, was driving a Dodge Grand Caravan around 5:15 a.m. Monday when he drove into floodwaters that were sweeping across the road. He lost control and landed in the ditch, where the van was submerged in water. Parent was rescued but later pronounced dead, the St. Croix Sheriff’s Office said.

The storms swept through the southern Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area before deluging western Wisconsin late Sunday and Monday, where eight families in the St. Croix County village of Baldwin were told to leave their houses near a creek and taken to a community center, sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Klatt told the Star Tribune.

At least five motorists were rescued from the roofs of their flooded vehicles on Highway 63 in the Baldwin area, Klatt said.

Stretches of that highway and many other roads and bridges had been rendered impassable, the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office said.

“We urge everyone to use extreme caution if you have to travel,” the sheriff’s office said. “Be very cautious of submerged roadways in low lying areas and blind corners.”

In the nearby Pierce County village of Ellsworth, officials said the rain overwhelmed many culverts and caused flooding, including along parts of Highway 10.

Highway 29 near Spring Valley was also closed, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Rain totals included 9 inches in Glenwood City, which is near Baldwin, and 8.2 inches in Hammond.

The storms also flooded roads in the Twin Cities area. Water covered streets and intersections in Lakeville, Minnesota, police said.

“These roads are impassable for the time being,” police tweeted.

The water had begun to recede by mid-morning Monday. There were no reports of serious injuries.

In Minnesota, heavy rain caused mudslides on Highway 169 south of St. Peter and on Highway 68 near Courtland, just east of New Ulm, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.