The Aug. 9 floods hit Mayor Cavalier Johnson close to home as he brought U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and County Executive David Crowley to his uncle’s flooded house.
Gregory Hardwick’s home, on the 4600 block of North 80th Street on Milwaukee’s Northwest side, is just one of the 3,000 damaged homes identified by the Department of Neighborhood Services as of Aug. 15, Johnson said.
“The damage throughout the area is overwhelming, and sadly, I believe that we have unfortunately surpassed the threshold for assistance from FEMA,” Johnson said at a press conference outside of his uncle’s house.
On Aug. 14, Baldwin called on President Donald Trump to approve the state’s request for FEMA funds to aid in recovery efforts. Crowley, Johnson, the Wisconsin State Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers have all done the same.
Milwaukee County is conducting ongoing damage assessments, and once the process is completed, the final numbers are sent to FEMA to decide whether funds will be released. As of Aug. 14, the assessments identified $23 million in damages across public county infrastructure, and the number is expected to rise as the surveying continues.
For residents whose insurance won’t cover damage to their home, Baldwin urged people to continue reporting that damage to the state’s 211 number, so their damages can be factored into the FEMA report. In the meantime, she’s said she’s doing what she can in Washington, D.C.
“I’m here to hear and listen and bring that back to Washington to persuade this administration to do what they need to do, which is declare a major disaster in Southeastern Wisconsin,” Baldwin said.
Crowley said he’s inspired by the state Legislature’s bipartisan support on the need for federal aid, but doesn’t want Trump’s decision to be political.
“To be clear about this federal assistance, this isn’t about politics,” Crowley said. “We shouldn’t be here bickering about how we’re going to support communities who have been extremely impacted by this flood.”
He also said he hopes to see FEMA on the ground in the next few weeks.
Jerrel Kruschke, Department of Public Works commissioner for the City of Milwaukee, said DPW’s sanitation crews have identified 2,000 damaged homes aside from the damage people are self-reporting. He said they’ve already addressed 1,000 of them over the past four days.
The drop-off center’s hours will be extended through Aug. 24, Kruschke said.
“We’ve seen the impact,” he said. “We have been down roadways with 6-foot-high debris on both sides of the roadway and it’ll be cleared, and we come back the next day, and there’s still more.”
Though the recovery efforts are far from over, Baldwin took a moment to thank first responders and those who’ve stepped up to help their community.
“This could have been much more catastrophic in terms of casualties and human life, but people acted quickly,” she said. “We can’t stop Mother Nature from a property damage that we’ve seen, but boy, quick action was necessary, and it happened.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sen. Tammy Baldwin tours flooded Milwaukee home, calls for FEMA aid
Reporting by Sophia Tiedge , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
