Flooding worries rise in Gays Mills

GAYS MILLS - Two record-setting floods in less than a year have left those in Gays Mills still trying to recover. But could they be in for a three-peat? We don't know yet, but rain-soaked days like Tuesday make people there nervous. With things still up in the air following last year's flood, they have every right to be worried.

For 20 years, Mason Evans and his wife have lived in Gays Mills.

"Our bed was floating," Evans said. "All the pictures and stuff of us kids and my folks. We saved some of them but didn't get them all."

That was two years ago when the Kickapoo River flooded. It forced a lot of people, including Evans and his wife, from their home.

"We lost everything in the house," he said.

Following the 2007 flood, the Evans purchased a new home. They live there right now. But every day when they look out their window, just across the lot, they're able to see the home they lived in for 20 years.

"It still bothers me. It still bothers my wife," Evans said. "My wife would like to have it down and gone."

A lot of the people who once lived in Gays Mills are just that: gone.

They had to leave because their homes were destroyed and they had nowhere to go while the village tried to figure out what to do next.

"Truthfully, I don't know how long it's going to take," said Maura Otis of the local long-range planning committee. "I don't know how to measure the progress."

Otis is one of the people trying to figure out what's next. After several options were considered the group decided a partial, voluntary relocation of those living in the floodplain was the best option.

"People are not obligated to leave the floodplain if they don't want to," Otis said.

But the village needs land for the move. It has a piece of property in mind on the outskirts of town. But officials are waiting for financial help from the government before they move forward. It's that wait that has some people, including Otis, concerned.

"We're going into a spring that's similar to 2008," Otis said.

Some people have stayed in their homes - though only by elevating them. Otis said there are still quite a few people that haven't returned. They're waiting around to see what will happen with the relocation.