MILWAUKEE (CN) - Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers asked FEMA on Wednesday to reverse course and send disaster aid to address millions in damage from devastating storms and flooding this past August.
"FEMA exists to help states and communities respond during and after an emergency, and we're asking the Trump Administration to Make good on that promise," Evers said in a press release. "It's clear Wisconsin communities qualify for disaster support and assistance, so I'm urging President Trump ... to reverse course."
Extreme storms in August caused historic flooding in southeastern Wisconsin over two days. The rainfall forced the Wisconsin State Fair to cancel its final day flooding completely submerged cars on the road, costing the fair $8 million in damages and lost revenue.
The joint preliminary damage assessment for public assistance, put together by FEMA and state officials, identified more than $27 million in statewide damages to public infrastructure. That's 2 1/2 times the state's official per capita threshold for public assistance, Evers said.
Despite the joint effort, FEMA denied Evers' applications for public assistance and the hazard mitigation grant program with nearly identical letters.
On Wednesday, Evers appealed the decision in a 37-page letter to Keith Turi, assistant administrator for FEMA's Recover Directorate, calling on the agency to release public funds for Door, Grant, Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha Counties.
Wisconsin Emergency Management, a branch of the state Department of Military Affairs, and FEMA conducted another damage report to support the appeal. It found additional damages that were not recorded during the first assessment and provided a county-specific breakdown of damages.
Milwaukee County bore the brunt of the public infrastructure damage with $20 million in repairs and cleanup costs.
That was largely concentrated in the city of Milwaukee, which incurred almost $8 million in debris cleanup, waterlogged classrooms and HVAC systems in 26 schools and severe damage to water treatment facilities and the deep tunnel system, according to Evers.
Other counties saw water treatment and wastewater facility emergencies, too. In the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, two sanitary sewers overflowed and discharged more than 10,000 gallons of untreated wastewater, according to Evers.
Public assistance funding from FEMA is intended for state, local and tribal governments to offset the costs of repairs for roads, bridges and other public infrastructure, while the hazard mitigation grant is intended to fortify the public sector against future disasters and loss.
Funding from the hazard mitigation grant program could be used to fortify water treatment and sewer infrastructure, including the three dams that were damaged in August. Similarly, public assistance funding would fix damage to roads, bridges, utilities and public buildings.
Beyond the damages to public facilities, more than 1,500 residential structures were destroyed or sustained major damage totaling upward of $33 million, according to FEMA.
President Donald Trump issued a federal disaster declaration, releasing individual assistance funds for Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties to support residents who have been displaced or seen severe damages to their homes.
FEMA distributed over $123 million in financial assistance to homeowners, renters and small business owners as of October, according to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. He and Evers called on the Trump administration to help cover the costs of damages to public assets, which he said still looms over impacted counties months later.
"The Trump administration told us that our requests for disaster aid to help respond to tens of millions of dollars in severe weather damages across several Wisconsin communities 'are not warranted,'" Evers said Wednesday. "Well I couldn't disagree more, and we're not going to sit here and take 'no' for an answer."
FEMA did not offer specific reasoning for denying Wisconsin's requests for public assistance, but a spokesperson said the agency followed the Stafford Act, which governs disbursement of FEMA aid.
The agency also pointed to "large, unobligated balances across the board" and advised states to work on drawing down balances. "This decision just like all disaster requests was based on policy, not politics," the agency said.
Evers pointed to a number of severe weather events across Wisconsin in recent years, including floods, tornadoes, windstorms and winter weather which have stretched the Wisconsin Disaster Fund, a state assistance program for local governments, thin.
The counties named in the disaster aid applications together have 326 repetitive loss properties - properties that have been damaged by flooding more than once, according to Evers.
With the mitigation grant, properties with repeated damage can be destroyed and rebuilt to sustain increasingly dangerous weather. In that case, property owners are given fair market value for their homes and historic structures are floodproofed.
FEMA leadership could not be reached by press time about Evers' appeal.
Source: Courthouse News Service
