Tower Lakes Man Drowns in Flooded Ditch in Northern Wisconsin

An 84-year-old Tower Lakes man died Tuesday morning after driving his car off a washed-out road in northern Wisconsin and into a flooded ditch but authorities were able to save his wife from the submerged vehicle, the Daily Herald reports.

Torrential rains in northern Wisconsin lead to officials ordering a state of emergency for eight counties, including Bayfield County, where Delmar R. Johnson was driving at about 11 a.m. Tuesday when he happened upon a washed out road.

Johnson was attempting to turn around and was making a Y-turn when he accidentally accelerated at a high rate of speed, plunging into a flooded ditch where the vehicle became completely submerged, the Duluth News Tribune reports. A firefighter, who was already on the scene, was able to immediately rescue Johnson’s wife, Caryljean Johnson, and then went back into the water to rescue Delmar.

Caryljean was not injured but efforts to resuscitate Delmar were unsuccessful.

The couple is from Tower Lakes, Ill., a small community located just northwest of Lake Zurich in Lake County.

More via the Daily Herald and the Duluth News Tribune