Heavy rain causes road collapse in Menomonee Falls

By Amy Fleury

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    MENOMONEE FALLS, Wisconsin (WISN) — The heavy rain Saturday into Sunday caused a road to give way in Menomonee Falls.

It happened near Campbell Drive and Campbell Court just south of Silver Spring Drive.

Asphalt, tunneling and other debris are creating a mangled mess in the Menomonee River.

Before police were able to put up barricades, a driver found himself at the wrong place at the absolute wrong time, and he drove right into the giant hole in the ground.

His car is now upside down, pushed up against the twisted guardrail.

He told WISN 12 News reporter Hannah Hilyard how he was able to survive.

“My car just dropped, and it fell. I was just, like, shocked. ‘Like, what’s going on? I’m going down.’ So then I got out the car, climbed on top of the car. First, I got out the car and slipped under into the water, but I climbed back up. That’s how I busted my knuckles and everything. And so I climbed back up and got on top of the car to jump as far as I can away from everything,” Derek Watson said. “There was an elderly couple, they put me in the back of their pickup truck and dropped me off at the Ace Hardware store. I’m pretty thankful, I’m very thankful to be alive.”

Other than the injured knuckles and some soreness, Watson is physically OK but said he’s certainly traumatized.

He returned out there Sunday afternoon for insurance purposes and was stunned to see where his car ended up.

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