Torrential rains inundated the Fox Cities on Monday evening, making the commute home less than favorable for many motorists. Yesterday’s rainfall even broke the previous daily rainfall record that had been set in 1967.
According to the National Weather Service in Green Bay, 2.23 inches of rain fell on the Northwestern side of Appleton, WI, during the storm. That total completely shatters Appleton’s daily rainfall record of 1.53 inches set in 1967.

Around 3:45 on Monday, streets throughout the Appleton and Grand Chute areas started flooding, which then prompted police offers and municipal workers to begin barricading the streets off from motorists. The storm sewers became a problem, but this only started occurring once the rain stopped.

The flooding stopped roughly two hours after the first reports came in, and luckily no one was injured. The Appleton Department of Public Works, as well as the local law enforcement agencies were completely overwhelmed with homeowners that were reporting flooded streets.

Some of the areas that saw the worst of the flooding include Northland Avenue, Ballard Road at Glendale Avenue and Bluemound Drive. The Outagamie County Sheriff’s department said that they were working as fast as they could to help clear the storm drains to alleviate some of the water from the flooded streets. Hortonville and Freedom also dealt with heavy flooding as well.

Appleton Police have not yet tallied the number of stranded vehicles that they responded to thus far, as they went from one call to the next. With many streets flooding, local officials highly recommended that motorists try to stay off the roads until the conditions improved.

The city engineer ensured that their workers were working tirelessly to address the situation as quickly as they could, but until the streets are no longer flooded, it would be best to stay off the road. A street may look like it isn’t that flooded, but in reality, it could stall your car. The engineer advised drivers to avoid traveling through any type of standing water, even if they think it looks shallow.

If you see any areas where the roads are flooded, even if it looks minimum, do NOT try to cross it or drive through it. It is better to be safe than sorry in these situations, as even a small amount of water can completely ruin a motor vehicle.

Stay tuned to your local weather authority, The Weather Channel, or Accuweather for continuous updates on the weather in your area.