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Madison flooding
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Anyone here live in Madison? It looks like the flooding is pretty bad
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Re: Madison flooding [thetriranger] [ In reply to ]
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Today is August 23rd. Ironman Wisconsin is Sep 9th.
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Re: Madison flooding [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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Yes it is. I just heard about it and was wondering how it looked. I read that sections of roads are still flooded and washed out, and I am aware that things will change in the next 2.5 weeks. Maybe I should have posted on another forum, but figured that it is close to the race and locals might have some perspective.
Last edited by: thetriranger: Aug 23, 18 12:13
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Re: Madison flooding [thetriranger] [ In reply to ]
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Swim will be cancelled due to storm run-off polluting the waters. Bike rerouted and shortened to 43. miles. Run will be full marathon but you will have to tromp through puddles aka IM Maryland. Pink, maybe.
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Re: Madison flooding [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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Sounds good
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Re: Madison flooding [thetriranger] [ In reply to ]
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I live here. As far as I've seen, the only flooding was south of the course by Cross Plains. There is a lot of destruction 1 block away from me, but As far as I know none of the course is affected and it surely will be clear by then. The beaches are all closed due to the water levels and run off, but should be good to go soon.

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Re: Madison flooding [ggeiger] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for update. I'm planning on riding course on sunday so looks like i'll be okay.
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Re: Madison flooding [hubcaps] [ In reply to ]
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a 1 mile section of whalen is currently unpaved and marked closed with barricades, just an fyi not due to storm, planned construction
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Re: Madison flooding [ggeiger] [ In reply to ]
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ggeiger wrote:
I live here. As far as I've seen, the only flooding was south of the course by Cross Plains. There is a lot of destruction 1 block away from me, but As far as I know none of the course is affected and it surely will be clear by then. The beaches are all closed due to the water levels and run off, but should be good to go soon.


Hmmm. That's not exactly true. Hwy G is affected. I haven't ridden that area to see what that means, just water on the roads or roads washed out like in Mazo and Black Earth. I had a friend tell me it was blocked off last night. There are a lot of areas still under water with water rising....will it affect IM, who knows? Lots of people worrying about their property, not the race.

https://www.channel3000.com/news/list-roads-closed-due-to-flooding-in-dane-county/785280551


Last edited by: SSMinnow: Aug 23, 18 17:59
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Re: Madison flooding [SSMinnow] [ In reply to ]
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Yes...Highway G is closed for about 1 mile. I road it anyways and the Department of Public Works guys were not happy, in hindsight I should have just turned around but it was early in the am and didn't think anything of it. Not a huge section but there is a decent size hole on the right side of the highway that will take some work to fix. Looks like it was by a drain.
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Re: Madison flooding [MadisonMan] [ In reply to ]
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Have you seen the lake? I rode through town yesterday and the bike path by Monona Terrace was one lane under water. Part of East Wash wil be closed tonight because of downtown flooding. Could be a real mess if we get the rain the weather people are talking about. Right now I wouldn't want to swim in any of the Madison Lakes, yuck!

Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.
Last edited by: ttx_tri: Aug 24, 18 7:48
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Re: Madison flooding [ttx_tri] [ In reply to ]
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Agree....I haven't been downtown but just riding around on my bike in Verona, Mt. Horeb, Cross Plains, etc.... it is amazing at all the damage done to roads, homes, etc..... I am extra cautious riding because most of the roads I know like the back of my hand but now there are spots that have holes, shoulder of the road is gone, etc... Be Carefeul
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Re: Madison flooding [MadisonMan] [ In reply to ]
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I live in central Madison and am an IMWI racer.

The main impact to the race might be the flooding that has begun on the isthmus and is expected to play out for up to 2 more weeks. There are several days more rain in the forecast, with Lake Monona already over 100yr flood, and all swim beaches closed due to elevated bacteria.

The flooding has begun after the rains of Aug 20 because it takes time for the watershed to drain into the 5 lakes, and each lake in turn to drain into the next downstream. The gradient between the 5 lakes is very low, with the lowest, Kegonsa, being only 8ft below the highest, Mendota, some 20 miles to the north.

Yesterday afternoon they opened the Tenney Park Locks to drain Lake Mendota into the Yahara River and thence to Lake Monona, because the Tenney Dam was under risk of failure, especially with more rain on the way - they are making room in Mendota's bathtub for the coming rain, at the expense of the near east side and Monona. So that is exacerbating the flooding in the Yahara thru the isthmus, and the level of Lake Monona - which in turn backs up into storm sewers on the isthmus and is why East Washington Avenue is under water. E. Wash and other roads through the isthmus are being closed due to flooding and some are expected to remain closed for up to 2 weeks - the explanation is that that the Yahara is 4 days from peak stage now, and so roads will remain under water for at least 4 days after.

Typically, after rains, the bacteria/algae levels elevate in the lakes and cause health closures. So that might be one reason the race swim could be affected. The other is that if Lake Monona is still sitting at 100yr flood stage, it might affect what planners want to allow on the lake. These lakes drain very slowly. The last time we had anything like this in Madison, with Lake Monona flooding, was in June 2000 and June 2008, which took weeks to play out.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the swim go either way.

The bike seems less likely to be affected, road closures are alot more likely to run their course in the next 2 weeks. Some current closures that might affect the route:
Highway 69 closed between Highway 151 and County Road PB
County Road J closed between Old Military Road and County Road S
County Road G closed between County Road J and Marsh Lane

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/photos-madison-area-struggles-friday-with-more-flooding/collection_3200bb8d-7e14-51a7-bcd2-9afabb39b399.html
https://www.publichealthmdc.com/environmental-health/beaches-lakes-pools/beach-conditions/
http://www.infosyahara.org/levelanimations
https://www.channel3000.com/news/madison-s-tenney-dam-to-release-more-water-or-risk-devastating-flooding-along-the-yahara-river-/785267472
https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/more-floodwater-gushing-through-tenney-dam-dam-failure-could-be/article_27e69066-9e52-549d-9a09-88c1660691a0.html
https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/full-report-damage-exceeds-million-as-madison-area-braces-for/collection_3170dcd2-4f74-5913-af79-0e9d47b9cf78.html
https://madison.com/ct/news/local/memo-to-east-side-commuters-the-pain-is-just-beginning/article_3f34c259-042f-5419-826c-c2964a421198.html
https://www.channel3000.com/news/city-officials-expect-flooded-roads-to-be-closed-for-weeks/785686140
https://www.channel3000.com/news/city-of-madison-releases-map-identifying-high-risk-flood-areas/785511544
https://www.channel3000.com/news/list-roads-closed-due-to-flooding-in-dane-county/785280551

Fingers crossed!
Last edited by: mc5: Aug 24, 18 13:36
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Re: Madison flooding [mc5] [ In reply to ]
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Good post....very informative.

I look at the bright side.....if for some reason the swim is canceled, my guess is the decision would be made days prior which would allow for Ironman to logically think through how to proceed without the swim, etc...

Just thinking about ALL the people who have had flood damage, it is just devastating
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Re: Madison flooding [mc5] [ In reply to ]
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Wow. Thanks for the update. Didn't realize it was that bad. I'm surprised Chicago news hasn't reported on this.
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Re: Madison flooding [hubcaps] [ In reply to ]
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Swim start water levels this morning (Aug 27) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QaNGnfFpN4
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Re: Madison flooding [mc5] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the great update.

As a non-swimmer, I hope they don't cancel the swim. Would hate for another "start by bib number" like Racine where you have to bike through hundreds of those ahead of you.

I guess we'll have to deal with the cards that are dealt on race day.


Take care.
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Re: Madison flooding [thetriranger] [ In reply to ]
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yes, the swim will definitely be at risk.
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Re: Madison flooding [triordie1994] [ In reply to ]
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It's got 2 weeks to go down, and the reason that lake is high is because the locks were opened to allow the other lake to drain. Wabesa will be the next tough spot, but that's south and not involved. The GOOD thing is there are no boats out. ;-)
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Re: Madison flooding [ggeiger] [ In reply to ]
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Quite a bit more rain tonight. Wonder how this will effect the flooding and the race.
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Re: Madison flooding [Joelbob] [ In reply to ]
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Joelbob wrote:
Quite a bit more rain tonight. Wonder how this will effect the flooding and the race.

Not very much rain where I am. They say the worst is past now. I think the biggest issue will be water quality for the swim, so hope things clear out.
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Re: Madison flooding [mc5] [ In reply to ]
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mc5 wrote:
I live in central Madison and am an IMWI racer.

The main impact to the race might be the flooding that has begun on the isthmus and is expected to play out for up to 2 more weeks. There are several days more rain in the forecast, with Lake Monona already over 100yr flood, and all swim beaches closed due to elevated bacteria.

The flooding has begun after the rains of Aug 20 because it takes time for the watershed to drain into the 5 lakes, and each lake in turn to drain into the next downstream. The gradient between the 5 lakes is very low, with the lowest, Kegonsa, being only 8ft below the highest, Mendota, some 20 miles to the north.

Yesterday afternoon they opened the Tenney Park Locks to drain Lake Mendota into the Yahara River and thence to Lake Monona, because the Tenney Dam was under risk of failure, especially with more rain on the way - they are making room in Mendota's bathtub for the coming rain, at the expense of the near east side and Monona. So that is exacerbating the flooding in the Yahara thru the isthmus, and the level of Lake Monona - which in turn backs up into storm sewers on the isthmus and is why East Washington Avenue is under water. E. Wash and other roads through the isthmus are being closed due to flooding and some are expected to remain closed for up to 2 weeks - the explanation is that that the Yahara is 4 days from peak stage now, and so roads will remain under water for at least 4 days after.

Typically, after rains, the bacteria/algae levels elevate in the lakes and cause health closures. So that might be one reason the race swim could be affected. The other is that if Lake Monona is still sitting at 100yr flood stage, it might affect what planners want to allow on the lake. These lakes drain very slowly. The last time we had anything like this in Madison, with Lake Monona flooding, was in June 2000 and June 2008, which took weeks to play out.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the swim go either way.

The bike seems less likely to be affected, road closures are alot more likely to run their course in the next 2 weeks. Some current closures that might affect the route:
Highway 69 closed between Highway 151 and County Road PB
County Road J closed between Old Military Road and County Road S
County Road G closed between County Road J and Marsh Lane

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/photos-madison-area-struggles-friday-with-more-flooding/collection_3200bb8d-7e14-51a7-bcd2-9afabb39b399.html
https://www.publichealthmdc.com/environmental-health/beaches-lakes-pools/beach-conditions/
http://www.infosyahara.org/levelanimations
https://www.channel3000.com/news/madison-s-tenney-dam-to-release-more-water-or-risk-devastating-flooding-along-the-yahara-river-/785267472
https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/more-floodwater-gushing-through-tenney-dam-dam-failure-could-be/article_27e69066-9e52-549d-9a09-88c1660691a0.html
https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/full-report-damage-exceeds-million-as-madison-area-braces-for/collection_3170dcd2-4f74-5913-af79-0e9d47b9cf78.html
https://madison.com/ct/news/local/memo-to-east-side-commuters-the-pain-is-just-beginning/article_3f34c259-042f-5419-826c-c2964a421198.html
https://www.channel3000.com/news/city-officials-expect-flooded-roads-to-be-closed-for-weeks/785686140
https://www.channel3000.com/news/city-of-madison-releases-map-identifying-high-risk-flood-areas/785511544
https://www.channel3000.com/news/list-roads-closed-due-to-flooding-in-dane-county/785280551

Fingers crossed!

While the bike course is not really damaged, the surrounding roads are. Hwy 14 has a bridge out that is a main corridor for traffic from Black Earth/Cross Plains to Madison. That might have CP want to divert the bike course (Barlow?) since traffic on roads close to the course are impacted. Add in road closures on the bike course and that traffic needs to go somewhere. To a closed road or a road already impacted is probably not ideal.

A LOT can change in 2 weeks time. Purely only speculation this week, should know much more by this time next week. I would assume bike course should be confirmed by next week and any contingency plan would be put in place then.

Swim could go either way, but the algae seems to be the deciding factor over what the water levels are.
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Re: Madison flooding [bcagle25] [ In reply to ]
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Not replying directly, but from last nights news
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin says you're not alone.
"With most natural disasters, like a tornado or hurricane, it hits and then about a day later, you go into recovery mode," Soglin said. "The offensive mode of the event is terminated. With this flooding event, we cannot say the end is in sight with lake levels this high."
As the flooding situation drags on into its 10th day, city of Madison officials said that in an effort to manage the water level on Lake Mendota, the flow of water has once again been increased through the Tenney Dam.
Soglin said the entire process can be frustrating, because with local lakes and rivers near capacity, the amount of water let out of the dam has to be closely regulated.
"As we bring down Lake Mendota, it brings rushing water into the Yahara River and Lake Monona, that is what's flooding the isthmus," Soglin said. "It's like you're emptying one giant bathtub into another giant bathtub through a straw."
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Re: Madison flooding [TriA6] [ In reply to ]
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I happen to drive by the swim start today and I was amazed at how flooded the area is. Hope we don't get rain this week, it could get ugly
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Re: Madison flooding [MadisonMan] [ In reply to ]
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Just looking at the weather forecast and the lake is up 1.5 inches from Saturday night. I highly doubt we will be swimming in a week.
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