Flooding Eases; Body Found in Drainage Ditch

Drenching rains of as much as a foot that sent flood waters rushing over roads, buildings and railroad tracks eased Friday, leaving emergency workers and property owners with a giant cleanup job.

As the waters receded, the body of a 14-year-old boy was found in a drainage ditch in suburban Elm Grove. He had vanished Thursday along with his 10-year-old cousin, who had yet to be found.

No other serious injuries were reported from the deluge that left an Amtrak train stalled overnight just west of Milwaukee and caused some buildings to collapse 50 miles to the north in Sheboygan.

Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, who declared a state of emergency for flood-stricken counties, toured the Sheboygan area Friday, as officials started assessing the extent of damage.

Though the water was receding, the Mill Place shopping center in Elm Grove was still swamped in about 5 feet of water, as business owners returned to check on the damage.

Amid the sound of pumps vacuuming brown water from the flooded parking lot, Kevin Benkowski donned a pair of chest-high waders to enter his store, Just Kidding, and film the wreckage for his insurance agent and his lawyer.

“It’s a total loss,” he said of the store, which sells children’s clothing. “Everything’s floating.”

The shopping center is on the banks of Underwood Creek, which quickly overflowed Thursday as about 8 inches of rain poured down. Water in Benkowski’s store reached 7 feet Thursday, and he and his wife had to be pulled out through windows by rescuers.

Employees of Reinders Inc., on the other side of the creek, were cleaning up debris that washed into the parking lot during the flood, but most company equipment wasn’t affected because it’s kept in buildings that were out of danger.

“The cleanup in a flood is a major task,” said Richard Reinders, president of the golf-course equipment firm. “You can clean and clean, and you’ll never get it done.”

In Sheboygan, homeowners who were evacuated Thursday began returning home Friday to flooded basements and swamped yards.

But inspectors found structural damage in some homes, and those residents were not allowed to return, Deputy Police Chief David Kirk said.

Police and private security officers were patrolling in the area to prevent looting, Kirk said.