Jacksonville musician Mike Anderson loses car, merchandise in Wisconsin flood

A flash flood in Janesville, Wisconsin, left Jacksonville musician Mike Anderson without the car he used to get to jobs and without the merchandise that helped pay for them, a double loss for the performer known locally as The Dulcimer Guy.

Anderson was trapped with about eight other musicians inside First Lutheran Church when floodwater rushed through the doors and filled the lower level more than four feet deep. A Journal-Courier video account said Anderson’s car was ruined and its contents, including a banjo and about 900 CDs, were destroyed. Separate notes put the merchandise loss at about 1,000 pieces, turning one storm into a hit to both transportation and inventory.

The damage cuts deep for a Morgan County artist whose work depends on movement and volume. Anderson’s website describes him as an entertainer, author, educator and award-winning recording artist, and says his calendar fills quickly, especially for summer, Halloween and the holidays. A 2018 Illinois College profile said he still performed 200 to 300 shows a year, a pace that makes a vehicle and a stock of saleable merchandise central to his livelihood.

The flood came out of a severe-weather outbreak that moved into Wisconsin on April 13 and 14, prompting Gov. Tony Evers to declare a state of emergency on April 15. State officials said at least 14 tornadoes were confirmed and rain totals near Milwaukee and Green Bay reached as much as 700 percent above normal. In Janesville and Rock County, the storms overwhelmed the city sewer system, turned streets into rivers and sent floodwater into First Lutheran Church, where Anderson and the other musicians were stranded.

Anderson later got a ride to Springfield from a fellow musician, but the recovery now stretches far beyond one ruined car. The loss of a banjo, hundreds of CDs and the rest of his merchandise threatens the sales and appearances that support a working performer’s schedule back home in Jacksonville. For a musician who travels with his business in the back seat, a flood in Wisconsin can still echo through Morgan County.