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"When asked if this was the end of the town, Village President Larry McCarn just stared ahead. 'It could be,' he answered."

Remember this picture from last month?

That's the Kickapoo River as it flow through Gays Mills, Wisconsin.

Photographed during apple blossom time.

Today, this news:

For nearly a year, this tiny southwestern Wisconsin village has struggled to survive after a devastating flood. New rising waters may have sealed its fate.

Flash floods inundated the town of 625 over the weekend, just 10 months after residents worked to rebuild their homes and businesses.

The swollen Kickapoo River spilled over its banks again and engulfed nearly the entire town Monday morning, forcing about 150 people to evacuate. By evening, the village was reduced to a grid of canals with cars submerged up to their windows and parking lots looking like lakes, just as it was in August....

[R]esidents stood on the edge of their ruined town, so close to finally turning the corner before this latest flood.

"I can't believe this is happening again," said Liz Klekamp, 23....

Very sad for the beautiful little town nestled in the river valley.

AND: Elsewhere in Wisconsin: "The lake is gone." The 267-acre Lake Delton drained:

The dam itself held, but a section of shoreline did not, washing out Highway A and creating a 400- to 500-foot wide outlet to the Wisconsin River, 700 feet away. A swirling chocolate malt of angry liquid escaped through the gap, spreading into the marsh and carrying houses, trees and an upside-down pontoon boat with it.

A swirling chocolate malt of angry liquid...

Full post as published by Althouse on June 10, 2008 (boomark / email).