MUSKEGO — Part of Gold Road in Muskego has been washed out after heavy rain flooded the banks of Jewel Creek, with water levels rising dramatically in local waterways and causing damage to homes and property.
"I got woken up by my husband at 1:00 a.m. — he was like, the basement's flooding, it was only a little bit. Two minutes later I had three inches of water," Emily Bath said.
In subdivisions bordering Pilak Creek, many Muskego residents are dealing with water in their homes and nervously watching creek levels rise.
"I think we're just going to sit tight," Christine Barleben said.
When asked if she had ever seen flooding like this in her neighborhood before, Barleben's answer was simple: "Never."
Police knocked on the Cragen family's door early Sunday morning, telling them to be ready to evacuate as water levels continued to rise.
When asked if they had a threshold in mind for evacuation, Nick Creagan explained the plan.
"Yeah, I would say another 20 feet up. There's a little bit of an incline here, so that could probably help the water not go completely up," he said, pointing at the slight slope in the backyard. "But if it goes up a little bit closer to the playground, we're out," Creagan said.
The rising water level on Little Muskego Lake swallowed up docks and backyards, sending boats, patio furniture, and jet skis floating freely.
"My fishing boat was almost sunk this morning, my pontoon boat was floating in between the docks," Steve Zingsheim said.
Zingsheim described the moment he realized the severity of the situation.
"Yeah, last night around 11 o'clock we were still up and we saw the water start coming through the sidewalls," Zingsheim said.
WATCH: Flooding in Muskego washes out roads as residents prepare to evacuate
He explained that the sump pump in his home simply couldn't work fast enough, and water began coming into the basement.
"I mean there's nothing you can do about it, I mean — you're helpless, water's gonna go where water is going to go," Zingsheim said.
Muskego Police say any updated information or alerts for the general public will be posted on the Muskego Police Department's Facebook page.
This story was reported on-air by Andrea Albers and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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