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Drained Dells lake maroons small resorts

Flooding means thousands of lost tourism dollars for businesses on Lake Delton, but for most of the Dells, it's mini-golf as usual.

By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

Last update: June 10, 2008 - 11:42 PM

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Resort owners along the shores of Lake Delton in the highly popular Wisconsin Dells tourism area tallied cancellations into the dozens on Tuesday, a day after lake water overflowed from relentless rains and burst through its banks, leaving it nearly drained.

By 10 a.m., Linda Allessi's cell phone battery was dead from fielding some of the 40 cancellations at her Sandrift Resort.

Dorothy Skorusa received a frustrating five cancellations in as many minutes at her business, Sandy Beach Resort. Skorusa's total hit: 20 reservations gone right as the summer season kicks off. The women only expect it to get worse.

"There's no swimming," Allessi said. "There's no fishing. There's no boating. What do you do?"

Still, for most of the Dells, the flooding didn't affect businesses. Ninety-three percent of the 358 businesses that belong to the Wisconsin Dells Visitor and Convention Bureau are operating as usual, said bureau spokesperson Carla Minsky. Roads serving the waterparks were also unaffected.

At Lake Delton, heavy rain over the weekend filled the 267-acre lake beyond capacity, and at about 7:30 a.m. Monday, the water cut a swath through an earthen barrier.

The water dug a 300-foot wide channel across County Road A and emptied two-thirds of the lake's contents straight into the Wisconsin River, said Wisconsin DNR spokeswoman, Laurel Steffes.

The water swept three houses into the river, severely damaged two others and left boats stranded in the three hours it emptied out of the lake.

No injuries were reported, and no serious property damage was incurred at Wisconsin Dells resorts.

It was one of many cases of severe flash flooding across Wisconsin that led Gov. Jim Doyle to declare 30 counties in a state of emergency. Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were expected to visit flooded areas beginning today.

Engineers were at Lake Delton on Tuesday to repair damage, including severed sewer lines that spewed raw sewage into the river. Village trustee Tom Diehl said water isn't expected to be back in the lake before summer's end, which doesn't bode well for the Dells, a $1 billion industry that attracts 3 million visitors a year and employs 24,000 people full-time.

What's affected, what's not

Two boat rental companies on the lake aren't operating, two amphibious boat tour companies have altered their routes and the famous Tommy Bartlett Show, celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, will expand its stage and sky acts and scuttle its water ski show.

Minsky, of the visitors' bureau, said tourists should call their destinations ahead of time or the bureau at 1-800-223-3557, or visit its website at www.wisdells.com.

Larger resorts with amenities fared well in the aftermath.

Wilderness on the Lake has a 108-unit building on the lake with a new golf course, and indoor and outdoor waterparks. Joe Eck, director of sales and marketing, said guests who have called mainly asked whether the resort was functioning and did not cancel their reservations.

But Allessi and others like her are hurting. She expects to lose $100,000 this season from cancelled reservations made as long ago as December. She might drop prices she already considers a bargain. Skorusa is entertaining the notion of shuttering her 15-room resort for the summer.

"I don't even know how to put it in words," she said. "I know the lake is huge ... but [guests] should still come."

Small resort owners said they're not going to make up the difference with customers who come to patronize the Dells' large waterparks and other attractions because their niche is lake-front swimming, boating, fishing and peaceful solitude.

"We're going to be in trouble this summer," said Kate Pettit, owner of the 29-unit Delton Oaks Resort.

Pettit had nine cancellations by Tuesday afternoon, about $7,000 worth of income.

She's going to tough it out, hoping to rebound another year, and kept her humor in dealing with the situation: "Our beach is double the size. We have a lot of room now."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391

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