JANESVILLE — It hasn’t been a good summer for Janesville’s parks and public works employees.
First, they had to fill and stack sandbags for weeks on end. Now, they have to don full body safety suits for cleanup—it’s sort of like doing yard work in a sauna.
This morning, the Rock River at Afton was at 11.93 feet, down from a high of 13.51 feet June 21. Flood stage is 9 feet.
“We’ve kicked into full cleanup mode,” John Whitcomb, city directors of operations, said Tuesday.
City engineers and consulting engineers will be brought in to inspect bridges, parking areas and streets before opening them to traffic.
Whitcomb said his staff hopes to have those areas cleaned up so they can be open as soon as possible after inspections.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is opening a flood recovery center at the New Life Assembly of God Church, 2416 North Wright Road, Janesville. The center will open Monday.
And in downtown Janesville, the carp are starting to head back into the river.
As the floodwaters recede, the carp leave a layer of dull grayish-brown crud over the pavement.
“When that sediment dries, it’s nasty,” Whitcomb said.
Which brings us back to the city workers.
City workers are using fire hoses on North Main Street to loosen that sediment while the street is still slightly submerged.
The full body safety suits protect workers from floodwaters, which are filled with a variety of toxins from untreated sewage. Treatment plants in Jefferson, Fort Atkinson and Lake Koshkonong had to discharge untreated sewage into the river because facilities were overwhelmed.
THE CENTER
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is opening its flood recovery center on Monday at New Life Assembly of God, 2416 North Wright Road, Janesville. The church is at the corner of Highway 14 and Wright Road.
Hours are:
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday.
1 to 7 p.m. Sunday.
For more information about hours or location, call New Life at (608) 756-4175.