Second man has died in western Wisconsin flooding

VICTORY, Wis. — A second person has died in the storms and flooding that hit western Wisconsin.

The Vernon County Sheriff's Office says a 79-year-old rural Viroqua man attempted to drive through flood water on a road near his home Thursday.

Authorities say Joseph Menne was in a pickup truck pulling a trailer which got stuck in six feet of water. The flood water eventually filled the pickup compartment. Menne was reported missing about 7 p.m. His body was found about two hours later.

The torrential rain and flooding also killed 53-year-old Michael McDonald in the same western Wisconsin county Thursday when his home slid down the side of a bluff and onto a highway.

The flooding and mudslides heavily damaged the small community where McDonald lived near the base of a bluff along the Mississippi River.