MANAWA (NBC 26) — With input from the community, Manawa is beginning to chart a path forward following torrential rains.
- Neighbors around Manawa gathered at Little Wolf High School to share their questions and concerns with the Manawa city council
- No concrete plans were shared tonight, but any and all questions and comments from the crowd were heard
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details for the web)
10 days after Manawa experienced city-wide flooding, neighbors from around Manawa gathered at Little Wolf High School shortly before 6 p.m. Monday night, with the goal of having their questions answered about the torrential rains on July 5th.
Those rains led to city-wide flooding, a partial failure of the Manawa Dam, and caused several homes and businesses to be flooded.
One of the first topics of discussion was centered around the emergency response.
Some claimed that emergency services were "slow" to release the pressure on the dam because they lacked a key to get the main entrance to the dam open.
Manawa Rural Firefighter Mark Craig quickly dismissed the claims.
"It was already open by the dam operator when we got there," Craig stated. "A key isn't going to stop a fire department. I don't know where this all came from that there was a key missing or someone waiting for a key, but our rescue unit is going to open any door you can think of."
Another question was raised regarding the failure of sewer systems across the city which led to some homes being flooded or backed up.
Nick Weed from the Manawa Department of Public Works led the discussion.
"There was so much water coming in that flooded our sewer plant we couldn't pump out faster than what was coming in so the main pit underneath the sewer plant was overflowing so it was causing a backup from the sewer plant out."
But, the most-asked question of the night was, by far: will the dam be reopened?
Waupaca County Emergency Management Director Andrew Carlin says it is still so early that they don't have an answer yet.
"It's a long process," says Carlin. "Recovery is the longest part of all of this. We have the response, recovery, mitigation, response, but part of the response is learning from it. We're in that part right now."
Manawa city council members tell me that conversations with parties involved are still very early on. However, they will be holding a city council meeting next Monday, July 22, at 6 p.m. that is, once again, open to the public. You can learn more by going here.
