WINONA, Minn. – Furious bands of lightning storms pounded the area, one after the other, before thundering eastward into Wisconsin. Trees toppled, their roots losing their grip in soggy ground. Lanes of southbound Highway 61 along the Mississippi RIVER were closed. Plugged culverts backed up water. Basements were flooded. StreetS in parts of Winona and suburban Goodview became lakes in early afternoon. At the Winona airport, Sunday’s precipitation totaled 2.34 inches, but some gauges in the region showed as much as five inches. There were warnings. The National Weather Service posted a flood advisory for parts of southeast Minnesota Saturday afternoon and a flash flood warning for the LaCrosse area. At Campbell, near the LaCrosse airport on French Island, some intersections were submerged knee-deep. Drivers abandoned cars. In La Crosse, a number of city streets flooded. Vehicles stalled in two feet of backed-up water around Cass Street. On County Road S in suburban Onalaska, trees fell in the street. County Road O was blocked by a mudslide. Highway 14 south of LaCrosse, near the split of Highways 14-61-35 split, was blocked by fallen trees and broken limbs.
