EAU CLAIRE COUTNY, Wis. (WEAU) – The waters of Lake Altoona are at bay as emergency response officials in the area work on protocols in case that stops being the case.
“Across the country, Wisconsin ranks 2nd nationally in the number of dam failures,” said Tyler Esh, the county emergency manager and for Wednesday’s multi-jurisdictional disaster training, the Emergency Operations Center manager.
The study that suggested Wisconsin ranks high in dam failures said the badger state has seen more than 30 in the past couple of decades.
“That doesn’t seem high. Although, when the dam fails right in your back yard, that’s just a really bad day,” said Esh.
The training comes in waves. First, both the cities of Eau Claire and Altoona will try to work on mitigating the impacts the dam failure can bring flooding in. Then, once both cities figure out the point of drowning and need more help, the county steps in. Eventually, the county will request for additional resources from the state and federal government.
It all requires a steady flow of communication, which can be hard in the face of disaster.
“We have a lot of dams in our community. The potential is there,” said Kathryn Schauf, the county administrator.
Another one of the main concerns, if the dam were to fail, is the Eau Claire County Courthouse. That is because all of the employees and jail inmates that would have to be moved.
“Along with working in the community while ensuring safety in the community,” said Schauf.
“Once it gets past River Praire, it’s going to hit the city of Eau Claire quickly,” said Esh.
“And we talked about evacuating the government building, and using bailiffs to clear the general areas. But, no we can’t use bailiffs to clear the general areas because we need them to move our prisoner population to safety,” said Schauf.
“That’s going to cause a big impact downtown,” said Esh.
Among the solutions found in the exercise that could help include using a universal software to make communications easier. Also, trying to figure out a bus provider that can help evacuate the county jail safely. And, to send employees in the building to a large unaffected facility, so their work can continue safely as the disaster happens.
Copyright 2025 WEAU. All rights reserved.