STOUGHTON (WKOW) -- People living along the shores of Lake Kegonsa said they're dealing with the worst flooding they've ever seen.
On Tuesday, homeowners living in one area were filling sandbags and strategically placing them to keep the flood waters at bay. Now they're dealing with other problems.
Longtime lakefront residents Jill Clinite and Jeff Lofter said they've never seen water levels quite this high.
“It just kind of boggles the mind the height of this,” Lofter said.
“Yesterday, the water was not over our dock. And today, as you can see, it is,” Clinite said. “This is the worst it's ever been. So we've been on the lake for about 14 years. And we've never seen it this high.”
Lake Kegonsa is at a historic level, which is creating havoc for boat owners. Both Clinite and Lofter have prepared for situations like this by bolting their docks.
“It's pretty stable and it's not going to float away. But some of the other docs and peers have the floating sections,” Lofter said.
“Many of our neighbors who have been taking their floor boards out. Because they will float away. Ours is attached,” Clinite said.
Besides protecting their property, lakefront owners are removing their piers to keep them from floating off and creating a navigational hazard.
“They can float around and hit the boat. If they're floating around in the middle of the lake and you're riding in the boat, you can run into one with your boat or even if you're water skiing or something like that,” Lofter said.
County officials have issued a slow-no-wake for lakes Kegonsa, Monona, and Waubesa to help protect the shore line from suffering more damage.
“Even boats, you'd be surprised, in the middle of the lake going 30 miles an hour, that throws waves over here that can be a foot high almost sometimes. And it can just come by and wash away a lot of land or that could push your boat off,” Lofter said.
For more on this story: http://www.wkow.com/story/38471530/2018/06/20/historic-lake-levels-wreak-havoc-on-lakefront-piers