{"id":591955,"date":"2026-04-18T15:23:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591955\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T15:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:23:12","slug":"heavy-flooding-in-janesville-triggers-road-closures-damages-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/591955\/","title":{"rendered":"Heavy flooding in Janesville triggers road closures, damages buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"

JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV) – First responders rescued several people in Janesville as floodwaters took over the streets, caused a train derailment and damaged multiple buildings Friday night. <\/p>\n

Officials from Janesville and Rock County provided an update Saturday on the major flooding event,<\/a> saying they are keeping an eye on the Rock River and trying to determine if any roads can be safely reopened. <\/p>\n

Rock County Sheriff Curt Fell said people made 724 calls to 911 between 5-9 p.m. Friday, which is a 392% surge in what they receive on a typical Friday night. <\/p>\n

Janesville City Manager Kevin Lahner said 11 people needed to be evacuated from partial flooding. Vehicles and boats were sent out to rescue people, included stranded drivers.<\/p>\n

City of Janesville reported a train containing corn and grains derailed <\/a>Friday night near North Washington Street and Maple Court. <\/p>\n

Lahner confirmed Saturday that the derailment happened because of a washout, saying one train car was completely buried underwater. Three locomotives in total derailed and crews are working to bring the train cars back on track. <\/p>\n

Lahner also said the conductor needed to be pulled out of the train car and was taken to a hospital for injuries. The conductor is expected to be OK. <\/p>\n

\"AA train carrying corn derailed late Friday night in Janesville, the City of Janesville confirmed in a press release.(Michael Piette)<\/p>\n

As of 9 a.m., officials did not have an exact number on how many people are displaced from their homes from the flooding. <\/p>\n

The city\u2019s drinking and wastewater is not impacted by the flooding, Lahner said. <\/p>\n

Community members who were displaced or rescued were taken to the Salvation Army for reunification with loved ones.<\/p>\n

Lahner added that a fire on the 5000 block of West Hanover Road was believed to be caused by a lightning strike. <\/p>\n

The Rock County Sheriff\u2019s Office urged people to stay off the roads unless travel was absolutely necessary Friday night, saying deputies were responding to a surge of calls that ranged from downed trees to flooded streets and fallen power lines. <\/p>\n

\"GreenGreen belt flooding between Dartmouth and Harvard Dr on westside of Janesville(Jackie Harwick)<\/p>\n

In Janesville, several roads were impassable. Some drivers became stranded as they tried to get through high water. <\/p>\n

Janesville Fire Department said debris was scattered across streets in the city, all of which was not hazardous. <\/p>\n

The fire department said it appreciated the community\u2019s patience as city staff inspect all roads and clear debris. <\/p>\n

Sheriff Fell asked anyone who has damage to call 211 to make a report. <\/p>\n

Road Closures<\/p>\n

As of 9 a.m., the Rock County Sheriff\u2019s Office released the following locations for road closures: <\/p>\n

Rockport Rd BridgeCTH 14: CTH A to CTH MMJohnson & NossCounty H & Mineral PointHanover & S EllisVan Allen & MapleJohnson & TrippMilton-Shopiere & MapleCounty Highway KK Bridge<\/p>\n

Janesville officials said the following road closures were in place Friday night: <\/p>\n

Milton AveMemorial DrNorth Parker DrPontiac\/RugerRiverside Park at RugerRockport at AftonDeerfield at Ryan RoadTraxler ParkLodge at Woodlane<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WMTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JANESVILLE, Wis. (WMTV) – First responders rescued several people in Janesville as floodwaters took over the streets, caused…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,113358,258397,258396,17776,3,258395,258398,452,453,1745],"class_list":["post-591955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-janesville","tag-john-light","tag-kevin-lahner","tag-madison","tag-news","tag-rock-county","tag-rock-county-sheriffs-office","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-wisconsin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}