FEMA representatives examined flood damage in Milwaukee County on May 5 as part of a joint preliminary damage assessment to see if the county qualifies for federal individual assistance.
During this step, federal, state, tribal and local officials review and validate initial damage assessment information submitted before the governor can make a declaration request, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management, the division of the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs that coordinates disaster and emergency responses.
The state’s joint preliminary damage assessments for individual assistance for counties and a tribal nation affected by the storms, tornadoes and flooding during April 13-23 began the week of April 27 after Gov. Tony Evers directed the state to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management worked with Impact 211 and emergency managers from the City of Milwaukee and other municipalities to submit initial damage assessments to the state, according to a spokesperson for the office.
The initial damage reports show the recent storms caused less damage than last August, according to city and county officials.
“It is unlikely that we will meet the threshold to receive FEMA aid, but Milwaukee County is participating in the (preliminary damage assessment) process in an effort to exhaust all potential options for financial support for impacted residents,” the spokesperson said.
In Milwaukee County, 211 has received 664 disaster reports since April 14, including approximately 324 contacts reporting structural damage, compared to over 7,000 reports in the storm aftermath last year.
Milwaukee County is not part of Wisconsin’s joint preliminary damage assessment for public assistance, which is scheduled to begin this week.
The rough estimate of damage to public infrastructure in Milwaukee County is less than $500,000, which is under the minimum threshold of $4.4 million in county public infrastructure damage, according to the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management.
What happens during an assessment?
FEMA evaluated qualitative and quantitative data from initial assessments and visited impacted Milwaukee neighborhoods to talk with residents about the extent of the damage to their homes and communities, according to the agency.
Included in the assessment is the number of homes affected, property details, photographic type of damage that occurred and impact on residents.
Joint preliminary damage assessments use sampling methods to develop a snapshot of the overall impact and do not look at every home affected.
The assessments for individual assistance in Wisconsin were completed on May 8, according to FEMA, but Katie Rousonelos, public information officer for Wisconsin Emergency Management, said the agencies are still validating numbers.
The state will then analyze the data to see if it meets the requirements for a federal declaration.
The deadline for Evers to submit a declaration request on behalf of the state is May 23, 30 days after the disaster occurred.
The request would then go to President Donald Trump to review, and there is no strict timeline to respond, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management.
Only if Trump approves a disaster declaration that includes aid for Milwaukee County will residents be able to apply for assistance.
Resources
Report any damage to your home from the April storms or flooding by calling 211 or visiting the 211 Wisconsin website.
Safe & Sound is hosting a Milwaukee Flooding Listening Session and Resource Fair from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13 at 4422 W. Leon Terrace in collaboration with the United Methodist Committee on Relief, or UMCOR, and the Milwaukee Health Department. Resources offered will include mold kits, cleanup buckets, emergency go-bags and other supplies.
Find more resources here.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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