Flash floods hit Minnesota and Wisconsin, at least 6 deaths reported and 1 missing

WINONA, Minn. — Relentless thunderstorms dropped up to a foot of rain on parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, setting off mudslides and causing flooding that forced evacuations of entire towns.

Six deaths were reported in southeastern Minnesota and one man was missing Monday, authorities said.

Steady rain fell during the night as Minnesota National Guard soldiers guarded communities that were cleared out after the devastating flooding early Sunday. More rain was possible Monday, and flash flood warnings were issued for northern Iowa as well.

Sean Wehlage, 29, spent a harrowing night on the roof of his one-story home in Stockton before he was rescued.

"I cannot describe the terror of it all. I'm just glad to be alive," he said.

His town of 803 residents was evacuated, as was Houston, a community of 995. Parts of Pickwick, Elba and Winona, on the Mississippi River, were also evacuated. Gov. Tim Pawlenty ordered 240 National Guard soldiers to help and declared a state of emergency in six counties.

"This is the worst disaster that's hit southeast Minnesota in a lifetime," said state Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in three counties in the southwest corner of his state, where more evacuations took place and damage was estimated Monday in the millions of dollars.

Separately, the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin caused more flooding on the southern Plains, killing at least six people during the weekend in Oklahoma and one in Texas. Parts of Oklahoma got up to 9 inches of rain Sunday.

In Minnesota, the Army Corps of Engineers opened up the floodgates on the rising Root River to release some of the water creating pressure on the dike in Houston, said Tim Comstock, public information officer for Houston County. The dike was holding, he said.

Near Brownsville, eight people survived when mudslides pushed their houses over a bluff, the Winona Daily News reported. Four people died when their cars were swept off roads, two in a vehicle that plunged into a 30-foot gully near Witoka two others whose car was swept into a ditch in Stockton.

In Wisconsin, more than 200 homes were flooded in the Crawford County communities of Gays Mills and Soldier Grove, each with about 600 to 640 residents. Some houses had water 4 feet deep from the nearby Kickapoo River, said Donna Gilson, a spokeswoman at emergency management's Madison headquarters.