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State highway reopens in Keshena

State Highway 47-55 and County Road VV in downtown Keshena was reopened to traffic early Friday afternoon. The state Department of Transportation closed the highway Tuesday, a day after the Menominee Indian tribe and Menominee County issued an emergency disaster declaration due to flooding from the Wolf River. County Road VV was closed Sunday. Work crews began clean-up efforts to reopen both roads Thursday morning, utilizing high-powered pumps to help remove water from the roads and replacing sandbags with concrete barriers. Menominee County and the Menominee Indian tribe on Friday removed the detour signs and barricades that had been erected. “The traffic is back to normal and people can now follow their routine,” said Brent Matthews, a supervisor with the DOT North Central Region office. The National Weather Service also lifted the flood warning issued for the area Friday afternoon. Ben Warrington, emergency coordinator for the tribe, said workers began pumping water about 8 p.m. Thursday and indicated there is still more work to be done. The pumps have the capability of removing up to 18,000 gallons of water per minute. “The Wolf River is down about a foot and we are still pumping the creek, which will take at least another two to three days,” Warrington said. “From the start of it, it all depended on the river going down, and things worked out quite well.” Reports of flooding in the area began Thanksgiving week and continued despite efforts by several agencies to address the problem, which was blamed on ice jams created by frazil ice. Frazil ice has the consistency of a snow cone and has prevented the Wolf River from flowing properly.