Advertisement The public relations arm of the greater Wisconsin Dells area also is operating in high gear.
Tour operators, waterparks and the Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau are blitzing state media with news releases touting that despite the loss of Lake Delton, there remains much to do in the Wisconsin Dells area, where tourism last year had an economic impact of more than $1 billion.
Officials said more than 93 percent of the community's tourism businesses were not affected by the storms and flooding and remain open. Most access roads were not affected and travelers can get in and out unimpeded, according to Melanie Platt-Gibson, marketing director for the bureau.
Both Noah's Ark and Kalahari Resorts, which are not on Lake Delton, also put out press releases Tuesday assuring guests they are operating as usual.
The Tommy Bartlett Show, known for its ski, stage and sky show, will reopen Thursday with expanded acts — minus the ski show — but will have just two acts daily before adding a third show beginning June 28.
"We're a very resilient community," said Tom Diehl, an owner of the Tommy Bartlett Show. "One summer isn't the end of the world. It's devastating, but we'll rebound."
Gas line detaches
REEDSBURG — The Baraboo River was no longer running over the top of the Main Street bridge here, but while the water was dropping Tuesday, officials in this Sauk County city of 9,028 discovered another problem.
A 6-inch natural gas line that spans the river detached from the bridge and was bowing in the water. The move forced crews from Alliant Energy to shut off the gas, which affected about 560 customers on the city's west side, said Alliant spokesman Scott Reigstad.
"No one went fully off," he said. "It's more of a reduced kind of usage."
Crews were working late Tuesday to install a temporary gas line over the bridge but the regular gas line will have to wait to be fixed until the river level falls, he said.
At the corner of Main and Webb streets, the Corner Pub Brewery was also feeling the effects of the high water.
The microbrewery closed Monday afternoon so brewing equipment and supplies that had been in the basement could me moved into the bar area. More than 3 feet of water filled the basement of the bar and ruined several barrels of beer and brewing equipment, said employee Sanda Hankins.
"Everything is just lost," she said.
Kegs lined the sidewalk next to soaked rolls of toilet paper and other debris hauled from the basement while a pump worked on pulling water from the basement.
Inmates, others fill bags
WEST BARABOO — Ike Lanman was scheduled to work a 12-hour shift at R R Donnelley here starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
But before he punched in at his printing job, he joined his 9-year-old son, Conner, and about two dozen inmates from the Sauk County Jail and the minimum-security Oakhill Correctional Institution in Fitchburg in filling sandbags.
The operation, stationed at the Sauk County garage on Highway 136 a block west of Highway 12, began Monday morning. As of Tuesday evening, more than 55,000 sand bags had been filled, said Melanie Spoke-Cook, a deputy with the Sauk County Sheriff's Office.
"They're awesome," Spoke-Cook said of the inmates, which included some on Huber work-release from the jail. "They'll come out every day if they need to."
Sand bags from the operation were being used in Baraboo, Rock Springs and North Freedom to hold back water from the Baraboo River. One family picked up more than 1,000 sandbags.
"Anything we can do to help out," said Lanman, who was filling burlap bags held by Noah Larson, 9. "My house isn't in danger now, but there's a lot that are."
Wanted a pond, but ...
NORTH FREEDOM — Shelly and Tim Robinson are well aware of the irony.
The couple, who have lived in a converted farmhouse for the past 10 years, were hoping to add a small pond to their back yard this year.
Mother nature beat them to it.
The black plastic shell for the pond sat empty on their back deck Tuesday but their yard, tool shed and garage were filled with water from the nearby Baraboo River. The basement of the couple's home was also filling with water but a pump worked every 20 minutes to remove much of it.
Sandbags rimmed the back of the house while and an old, but working, Allis Chalmers tractor was parked below the deck, ready to power a pump if the water breached the sandbags, Shelly Robinson said.
Water began encroaching on the home Monday afternoon. Just over 24 hours later, the 6-foot-high fence in the back yard was submerged.
"This morning you could see about 6 inches of it," Robinson, 35, said. "I'm trying to gather things and I've got a suitcase packed, just in case."
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