84-year-old man drowns in Bayfield Co. flooding
CABLE, Minn. (KMSP) - An 84-year-old Illinois man drowned Tuesday morning when his vehicle was caught in the flooding caused by Monday night’s storms in northern Wisconsin.
At approximately 11 a.m., the Bayfield County sheriff’s department received a report of a submerged vehicle on County Road Highway M about three miles east of Cable Wisconsin. The driver, identified as Delmar Johnson of Tower Lakes, Ill., was attempting to turn his car around on a portion of the road that was blocked by water. As he was trying to turn, Johnson drove the vehicle into a flooded ditch along the highway, submerging it.
A firefighter from the Cable Fire Department who was already on the scene immediately rescued the passenger, Johnson’s wife Caryljean, from the vehicle and got her to safety. The firefighter then went back to the vehicle and rescued Johnson, but authorities were ultimately unable to revive him. Johnson died from drowning.
Johnson’s wife was not injured. The Bayfield County sheriff’s office is currently investigating the accident.