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Lee couldn’t find his shop vac, so he drove to Wal-Mart, about 15 miles away in La Crosse. It had been raining all day, and by the time he was done, he couldn’t get home.
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Mike and Stephanie Lee walk through the yard of their house that was detroyed by flooding in Chaseburg. Chaseburg residents are still waiting for approval of buyouts through state and federal programs designed to clear floodways.
Erik Daily |
Another driver told him not to bother. The roads were under water.
Meanwhile, his wife and teenage kids were moving things out of the basement and into the garage when water from nearby Coon Creek broke out the windows.
The basement filled in minutes.
But as fast as the water rose, help has been slow to come for the tiny village tucked in a northern Vernon County valley.
While the Red Cross and some faith-based charities responded, village board president Ken Bluske said there wasn’t much outside support. So they decided to do it themselves.
On Aug. 25, just days after the flood, they held an event they dubbed “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” It raised more than $25,000, as well as a town hall full of bottled water and cleaning supplies. That helped.
But like many places hit by the flood, Chaseburg needed more — a lot more — to prevent another similar disaster and get its residents back on their feet.
The Lee family moved in with Mike’s parents for a while and then found a place in Coon Valley that they could afford with their rental assistance money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Their home wasn’t damaged as badly as some, but because it was in the flood path, the village decided to seek state and federal grants to remove it and a dozen other homes and four businesses. Lee said he was told the buyout would probably be done by January.
One year later, he’s still waiting.
Just last week, FEMA notified the village of 300 people that it had approved its residential buyouts. The village is still waiting for word on the commercial properties.
As early as May, FEMA had approved buyouts for other communities hit by the August floods. Gays Mills, Wis., got approval for its buyouts in July.
“It’s all taken longer than what anybody expected,” said Dale Klemme, a community development specialist working with Chaseburg, as well as Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove, Wis.
When he asked why, Klemme said, FEMA officials told him agents were in the field dealing with floods that caused damage throughout the Midwest in June.
While that seems reasonable, he said, “it’s difficult to (tell) individuals who have been out of their homes since August that the feds are busy.”
Every time Bluske asked about the applications, it seemed they were sitting on someone else’s desk — always the wrong desk.
“We haven’t even gotten through the last time,” he said. “It’s frustrating for everybody.”
Appraisals are now underway on the residential properties, which means owners should be getting offers within a couple of weeks, Klemme said.
Once the buyouts are approved — and assuming that the property owners accept them — the village will raze the buildings. While they aren’t permitted to build anything there, Bluske hopes they can use the land as a park.
Though Lee had help paying his rent, the 43-year-old dry waller has had to keep making mortgage and tax payments on his house. And FEMA hasn’t always been prompt with the rental assistance, he said.
Lee hopes to build a new home in Coon Valley — lots are scarce in Chaseburg. But he can’t move forward until he finds out what he will get for his old home.
“Until we get the money, you don’t know what you can do,” he said.
He’s been told he should have an offer next month.
Contact reporter Chris Hubbuch at (608) 791-8217 or at chris.hubbuch@lee.net.
