Bonduel flood cleanup moving ahead

Bonduel residents and merchants are recovering slowly from a flood that shut down local businesses and is prompting village leaders to consider seeking state disaster funds.

Several homes and businesses were flooded June 14 when a violent storm that spawned tornadoes in the region deluged Bonduel with as much as six inches of rain, by some estimates.

“It was terrible,” said Robyn Yancy, owner of Sport Shop & Repair.

The boat and snowmobile retail store at 230 S. Cecil St. was inundated when a nearby creek spilled its banks and raging floodwater lifted boats off their displays and left dozens of snowmobiles under water.

Yancy was touched when volunteers showed up unannounced to help with cleanup efforts, but the business was closed for 12 days.

“It just stopped everything,” she said.

Bonduel village crews kept busy delivering sandbags to flooded property owners, using fire trucks to wash away thick deposits of mud, and keeping the public recycling center open extended hours for refuse disposal.

Todd Lorbiecki, the village’s municipal operations director, said he was pleased with the community’s response to what some residents described as the worst flash flood in 50 years or more.

“It was a good community effort,” he said. “Neighbor helping neighbor.”

Village leaders have approached Shawano County about applying for a state disaster declaration that could allow the village to recoup some of its costs incurred combating the flood and aiding in the recovery.

Although the declaration would not provide any funds for affected private property owners, it would replenish Bonduel Village Hall of potentially thousands of dollars spent on manpower and resources. The county’s emergency management department is assisting the village with the state application.

Natalie Easterday, the county’s emergency management director, said the state has funding available to help local communities hit by natural disasters if they can demonstrate financial losses exceeding a certain level. The required threshold is $3.61 per capita, which translates to about $5,400 for Bonduel.

If a community qualifies, the state offers reimbursement of up to 70 percent of lost funding.

“It all comes down to the numbers,” Easterday said.

The county is in discussion with other municipalities to determine if their losses qualify to be included in the county’s application to state disaster officials.

The area was struck on the afternoon of June 14 by a violent round of thunderstorms that spawned numerous reports of property damage, tornado sightings and flash flooding. Other communities hammered by the storms included Gresham, Angelica, Lessor and Maple Grove.

In Bonduel, heavy downpours caused flooding in several parts of town and left an unknown number of homeowners bailing water out of their basements.

Lorbiecki said some private homeowners unfortunately had no insurance.

The creek that overflowed near Sport Shop & Repair runs beneath state Highway 117 just south of downtown Bonduel, in an area occupied by many businesses. At the height of the June 14 storm, floodwater covered Highway 117 and engulfed adjoining properties.

At the Dollar General store, 243 S. Cecil St., employees watched the overflowing creek fill up the parking lot and then come rushing into the store.

Paige Kroll, assistant general manager at Dollar General, said the entire store quickly was filled with 10 to 12 inches of water that sent employees and customers scrambling.

“The water just pushed the doors open,” Kroll said. “We couldn’t stop the water from coming in.”

Dollar General was closed for more than week as cleanup crews drained the water and filled a trash dumpster with ruined inventory.

Also impacted was Bonduel Auto, 249 S. Cecil St., where floodwater left behind a thick layer of mud that disrupted the automobile repair shop.

Employee Patrick Wassenberg said the shop remained open for business, but it took about three days for employees to clean up. Wassenberg said it was the worst flood he has witnessed at Bonduel Auto.

“It was crazy,” he said. “I’ve never seen it like that before.”