The National Weather Service in Sullivan

The National Weather Service in Sullivan received unconfirmed reports of tornadoes from seven counties, and the new flooding prompted evacuations in Iowa and Jefferson counties, among others.

Rescue operations were conducted in Winnebago County, Grant County and Sauk County, where in Baraboo the Original Wisconsin Ducks and the Dells Army Ducks land-and-watercraft were used to rescue residents and business owners trapped in the floodwaters.

“This is pretty much unprecedented, to get day after day with 3 to 6 inches of rain in the Wisconsin River Valley,” said Bill Borghoff, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sullivan.

Said David Carlson, spokesman for Wisconsin Emergency Management, “It’s kind of like the state is springing leaks everywhere.”

In Fond du Lac, heavy rain left many of the city’s roads 2 feet under water, Fond du Lac Police Lt. Steve Klein said.

“A large portion of our city is underwater,” he said.

Fond du Lac High School was to open as a shelter, and police were urging people to stay off the roads.

The band of thunderstorms that swept across the southern part of the state caused new flooding in Grant, Iowa, Brown, Calumet, Manitowoc, Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Lancaster, Rock, Sauk and Dane counties, the weather service reported.

In southwestern Wisconsin, flooding destroyed three homes in Potosi in Grant County, and in Iowa County flooding prompted a voluntary evacuation of the community of Avoca.

A possible tornado in the East Troy area of Walworth County damaged six homes and two barns, according to the Wisconsin Emergency Management Web site.

No injuries or damage from the tornadoes were reported, Carlson said.

There were also scattered reports of funnel cloud sighting throughout southern Wisconsin, according to the weather service.

In Sauk County as of 6:30 p.m., sections of more than 50 roads were closed, according to the county’s Web site. They included I-94 at Exit 108 in Prairie du Sac.

Authorities also opened a half-dozen shelters in the county, according to the site.

Residents in flood-affected areas, meanwhile, piled hundreds of thousands of sandbags in an attempt to keep pace with the downpours that fed rising rivers.

Wisconsin Emergency Management officials have ordered 200,000 more sandbags to help communities affected by flooding across the state.

The additional sandbags will be piled atop the 234,000 already distributed and placed in affected areas to protect homes and businesses from the sprawling water. Nearly half of those went to Sauk County, according to Carlson, the spokesman for the state’s emergency management office.

I-94 lanes closed

One of the southbound lanes of I-39 near Portage, just north of the I-90/94 cutoff, was closed when water flowed over the pavement.

Westbound I-94 lanes in Jefferson County were closed in mid-afternoon when the Crawfish River pushed close to the road. The same lanes were closed earlier in the week, when the Rock River rose to within inches of the freeway.

Eastbound lanes, which are higher, were not closed, officials said.

A trailer park west of Johnson Creek in Aztalan was voluntarily evacuated Thursday evening because of flooding, Jefferson County Sheriff Paul Milbrath said. About 20 trailers were evacuated, as were another 15 or 20 homes in rural spots near Fort Atkinson.

Most of those who left went to stay with relatives or friends, but a few were expected to stay at a shelter set up at a Fort Atkinson church, Milbrath said.

The state Division of Emergency Management reported extensive flooding in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, with the State Patrol doing water rescues in the Oshkosh area. Highway 44 near Oshkosh was under 3 to 4 feet of water, Carlson said.

Ducks go to work

Andrea Novotny, spokeswoman for the Original Wisconsin Ducks — the watercraft made famous during World War II for their ability to haul troops and supplies over land and sea — said that about six or seven Ducks from her company and about three from the Dells Army Ducks had started rescuing residents late Thursday afternoon after the Baraboo Police and Fire departments requested that the half-boat, half-truck vehicles help them move trapped residents to higher ground in downtown Baraboo.

Novotny estimated that the units, which got a police escort down Highway 12 from the Wisconsin Dells area to Baraboo, had taken several dozen people from their homes and evacuated them to a parking lot near the Circus World Museum.

From there, residents were shuttled to higher ground near Baraboo’s downtown square.

Original Wisconsin Ducks General Manager Dan Gavinski said one unit drove back into the water specifically to rescue a flood victim’s dog.

“This kind of operation is exactly what these unique vehicles were made for, and we are glad to be of help in Baraboo’s time of need,” Gavinski said. “But we need this rain to stop.”