The red cross has just opened an emergency shelter in columbia county for residents displaced by flooding.

The flooding along the wisconsin river is expected to get worse as the weekend goes on... adam duxter is live at that shelter in portage with what people there are doing to prepare for the rising water.... amanda... i'm outside the united methodist church in portage.

Red cross officals told us at least one person is staying here tonight and they expect there will be more.

They're offering a place to sleep and something to eat.

The department of natural resources says waters will continue to rise overnight.... while they're warning many in columbia county to evacuate.... for some.... this is nothing new..... nats (water pumping out) patricia hinickle has called portage home for a while now... 9 56 52 50 years!

And she's no stranger to the rising waters.... her home... victim to floods in years past... 9 57 40 my basement was flooded, i lost my furnace, they had to come in and turn off my electricity, pump all my water out the kitchen window into the backyard.

Now... she says she's gotten smart.... a pump in her basement... nat (pump) always going... keeping her dry... but today..

.the water is high... yet again... michael hillstrom///wisco nsin department of natural resources 20 06 24 this incident is really about a lot of snow melt in a short amount of time from the northern part of the state that's all just working its way down the river.

You add in a few rain storms and you have yourself a recipe for flooding like this.

The wisconsin river... up to the major flooding stages... last measuring in... at 19 and a half feet... and rising... and while it's nothing patricia... or the dnr... haven't seen before... it's still serious.

20 08 00 every situation is a little bit different.

That can really change from minute to minute.

The dnr says people on the other side of the river were told to evacuate... the water is expected to crest late tomorrow night... shy of the record set in 2010..

And go back down by the middle of next week... patricia says in the meantime..

She's glad at the way emerency managers are handling the situation.

10 01 19 they're on top of it, i'm proud of them..

Mike hillstrom with the dnr says while things look contained at the moment... that can change at any moment.... he says the most important thing people can do over the next 24 hours is continue to stay safe... and stay tuned to updates they release about the floods....