MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Flash flooding canceled the final day of the Wisconsin State Fair on Sunday as continued heavy rainfall in half a dozen Midwest states forced motorists to abandon their vehicles, cut power to thousands of households and closed busy roadways.
Organizers of the Wisconsin State Fair said they were scrapping the final day of the 11-day event after rains flooded the fairgrounds in West Allis, which is just outside Milwaukee.
"We are saddened we cannot deliver this final day of the Wisconsin State Fair, but know that this is the best decision with current conditions and the forecast ahead," organizers said in a statement.
The National Weather Service issued flood watches and warnings for parts of Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin. After rainfall began on Saturday in some areas forecasters predicted "repeated rounds of heavy rain," along with hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes into Monday.
In La Crosse, the city received measurable rain on only one day of August, through Saturday the 9th...and Saturday was that rainy day. The weather service says .63 of an inch of rain fell in La Crosse on Saturday. Normally, La Crosse gets a little over an inch of rain for the first 9 days of August.