MAYVILLE -- Students and staff were evacuated from St. John's Lutheran School in Mayville after rising water threatened the building.
A school official posted the following on the school's Facebook page at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday:
The official followed the post saying "HELP is needed! If you can spare some time and muscle help is needed at the school sandbagging."
There is currently a flood watch in Dodge County and Fond du Lac County until 1 a.m. Thursday. Those areas received three to five inches Wednesday night.
Larry Brandel has lived in his home near St. John's Lutheran School for 40 years. He also spent many years as a firefighter in Mayville.
"I've never seen it this bad before," he said. "I got about 40 to 50 gallons that I pumped out of my basement already."
"Every time we have a heavy rainfall, it always seems to crest over a little bit but very rarely does it get to this level," said Mayville Chief of Police Christopher MacNeill.
"It broke the curb over here on Horicon Street," said Principal Kay Koenitzer. "When it broke the curb, within 10 to 15 minutes, it really filled up and probably about 10 minutes after that, it jumped our curb and started coming down the side of our school."
She said the school itself has minimal damage and many students stayed behind to help fill sandbags, like sixth grader Bradley Bushke.
"We came to school and after chapel it was all flooding and then they dismissed us to the church up there," he said. "We sat up there for awhile and then we came back."
Bushke was one of dozens of volunteers who helped protect the school.
"We've got community people, we have church people, we have school people, we have friends of people that just heard from everybody else," said Koenitzer. "And everybody is really working hard."
Brandel said it was great to see so many people helping the school.
"It's kinda rewarding to see in a small town what people do to help each other," he said.
