Flooding closes Douglas County roads, surrounding areas

Superior Telegram

Flooding led to road closings in Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland, Washburn and Sawyer counties this morning.

In Douglas County, County Road W is closed at the Nemadji River due to a log jam under the bridge that is causing water over the road. In addition, County Highway G is closed at the Totagatic River near the Washburn County Line. Several town roads in Summit and the town of Superior were still closed this morning, as well. A list of emergency road closures in Douglas County can be found at the website www.douglascountywi.org .

 Traffic alerts indicated sections of State Highway 13 and US Highway 2 in Ashland County, Highway 77 and US Highway 53 in Washburn County, US Highway 63 and State Highway 137 in Bayfield County, State Highway 27 in Sawyer County were closed for flooding this morning.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation released the following list of closures at 11:30 a.m.

Ashland County

·        US 2 at Sum Road in Ashland – high water, no official detour

·        US 2 at Denomie Creek near Bad River in Odanah – culvert washout, no official detour

·        WIS 13 at Trout Brook in North York between Mellen and Ashland – culvert washout, no official detour

·        WIS 13 at Silver Creek in Highbridge between Mellen and Ashland – culvert washout, no official detour

Bayfield County

·        WIS 137 at Wipperfurth Road in Ashland between Sanborn Avenue and US 2, no official detour

·        US 63 at Twentymile Creek near Grand View, north of Drummond – culvert washout, no official detour

·        US 63 near Bibon Swamp between Grand View and Mason – water over roadway, no official detour

Iron County

·        US 2 is closed between US 51 (Hurley) and Lake Road, east of Odanah in Ashland County. Traffic detoured via WIS 77, WIS 13, WIS 77 and WIS 63.  

·        WIS 122 is closed north of US 2 at Parker Creek. No official detour posted.

·        Iron County A is impassable between WIS 22 and Saxon Harbor. No official detour posted.

·        WIS 169 is closed between US 2 and the town of Gurney. No official detour posted.  

Sawyer County

·        WIS 27 north of Hayward, off of WIS 77 near Smith Lake – roadway washout, no official detour

Washburn County

·        WIS 77 at Oak Tree Drive to County Road G just east of Minong – roadway flooded, no official detour

·        WIS 77 at Old Bass Lake Road southwest of Minong – roadway flooded, no official detour

·        US 53 northbound lane north of Palmer Drive, between Lampson and Minong – roadway flooding, no official detour

For alternate routes and up to date traffic information, call 511 or visit  http://511wi.gov .

Rain totals relayed by the National Weather Service in Duluth through Tuesday morning included:

• 10 inches near Wascott
• 9.65 inches near Saxon, west of Hurley
• 8.21 inches near Seeley, north of Hayward
• 7.55 inches near Drummond
• 6.24 inches near Clam Lake
• 5.75 inches near Hayward
• 5.49 inches near Breezy Point in Crow Wing County
• 5.20 inches near Ashland
• 5.14 inches near Willow River
• 4.41 inches near Grantsburg
• 4.31 inches at the Brainerd airport
• 3.51 inches at Aitkin
• 3.27 inches near Minong
• 2.91 inches near Maple
• 2.59 inches in Ashland

A weather spotter in Barnes reported 4.5 inches of rain between 5 and 7 p.m., and a spotter near Superior reported in excess of 5 inches of rain with more falling.
Duluth saw heavy rain but dodged the worst of the storms, with 2.27 inches of rain at the airport through Tuesday morning. Areas to the north saw significantly less rain - International Falls reported only 0.01 inches of rain.