Highway 76 is flooded near Highway 54 in Shiocton April 15, 2026. (Photo courtesy Wisconsin DOT)
SHIOCTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — All residents in the village of Shiocton were ordered to evacuate Wednesday as the waters of the Wolf River continue to rise to record levels.
“I’ve never seen it like that. I’ve seen it flood, but nothing like this,” said resident Kim Dewindt.
The village president’s decree instructed all people in the village limits to evacuate by 3 p.m. Wednesday. An estimated 900 people live in the community, which is located about 15 miles northwest of Appleton.
The evacuation order led residents to make tough decisions.
“When I first read it on Facebook, I cried. I just know I can’t leave my house and my pets and stuff. And then my daughter called and said, ‘You’ve got to leave. If you don’t leave, I’m coming to get you.’ So, I started packing up stuff,” said resident Sharon Stilp.
Dewindt added, “My husband said, ‘We’re not leaving, we’ll see.’ But I don’t know. Part of me, like I said, it’s not that we would flood where we live. It would be that we couldn’t get out of something after one of us.”
The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at St. John’s United Church of Christ, located at 101 S. Clark Street.
Outagamie County says it has activated its Emergency Operations Center to help coordinate response efforts and support local municipalities like Shiocton. County staff are actively working with municipal partners to assess conditions, share information and help address community needs as response efforts continue.
“We have at least a half a dozen departments, volunteer departments. They came out here, they went door-to-door, they were able to contact every household in about two hours or so. So, either telling the resident ‘you need to leave’ or putting a notification there,” said Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.
Residents are encouraged to report property damage and any unmet needs by calling 2-1-1. This information helps emergency management officials better understand impacts across the county and coordinate resources where they are needed most.
Officials are also asking the public to stay out of flooded areas and avoid unnecessary travel in impacted locations. Do not add additional traffic to areas where emergency responders, highway crews and local officials are actively working, authorities said.
State Highway 76 is closed from State Highway 54 to the south end of the village. State Highway 54 will also be closed until further notice from State Highway 47 to County Highway M. The detour route is State Highway 47 to County Highway S to County Highway M.
“If you do not evacuate, we will likely not be able to assist you,” the order reads.
“We’ve told people to evacuate because there is a possibility, after 3 p.m., we may not have the resources, the capability, to be able to go in and help anyone,” said Nelson.
Even with that order in place, some residents were still adamant about staying.
“I just won’t leave. I’ve got to protect my house,” said Candy Mansfield.
Mary Casey agreed, saying, “We have our dogs and cats in there, and that would be horrible to move them right now. But we got sandbagged, so hopefully it holds out.”
Community efforts were underway Wednesday to sandbag. The fire department planned to go door-to-door with the evacuation at 3 p.m. and again at 5 p.m. as people would get home from work.
The village warned the flooding is expected to get worse in the next few days.
As a result, the School District of Shiocton announced Wednesday evening it will stay closed for the remainder of this week.
“The building is inaccessible, the river has not crested yet, roads are impassable and there is potential for more rain to come. I want to give you as much time as possible to plan for the rest of the week in this unprecedented situation,” said Superintendent Garrett Zimmerman.
Classes are canceled altogether and there will be no digital learning.
“While we have met our number of inclement weather days, I do not feel right calling for Digital Learning Days while our community goes through this flooding. I’d rather you focus on your loved ones and homes than an assignment. We will figure out how to address our days and hours after we come back together,” said Zimmerman.
According to the National Water Prediction Service, the Wolf River stage was 14.02 feet at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. The river is expected to rise to a crest of 15.1 feet by Friday morning. The record crest is 14.1 feet on April 1, 1992.
NWS says at 14.00 feet, water is about a foot below the bottom of the Highway 54 bridge. Flood waters begin spreading over parts of the village near the river, including River and Mills streets.
Bamboo Bend is closed for the season and will not be available for viewing of sturgeon spawning, officials announced Wednesday. Some sturgeon are currently spawning not in the Wolf River, but across the street in a business’ parking lot. The DNR says it is aware of the unusual spawning location and it’s monitoring the situation.
Flooding is also a concern in the nearby village of Nichols, which is on the Shioc River. It flows into the Wolf River near Shiocton.
Residents met at the Nichols fire station Wednesday morning to make sandbags that were then placed around the village.
“It’s just incredible. I lived here my whole life. 64 years I’ve been here, and I’ve never seen water like this, never. I mean, we got it surrounding the whole village. We got it in the village, and it’s deep,” said Terry, a Nichols resident.
The fire department is urging residents to conserve water. It says if water begins to back up, porta-potties can be used by the fire station.
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