VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

After a week of historic storms across Wisconsin, it was far too much for the Wolf River to handle.

“People were in kind of a panic, because this rose faster and more water than we’ve ever seen in our lifetime,” Jim Falke said.

A long waterway that bends through Waupaca County, many residents near the Wolf River — and even some not near the river — quickly found their homes and property underwater. Communities like Fremont, New London and Shiocton were swamped.

“It’s worse than anybody anticipated,” said Falke, who is a village trustee in Fremont.

“There’s quite a few homes in the area that are severely damaged with waste deep water — the businesses have all been shut down for a week,” he shared. “Here in Fremont, much of downtown is flooded still days after. We’ve got water pumps and trucks trying to get this water out. One business owner told me they’re simply trying to move water from one place to another.”

Fremont resident Yvonne Clemins owns two businesses in the village — one downtown and one on the river.

“There’s always been some high water, but I don’t think anybody’s ever expected to see it this high,” Clemins said.

As for her resort on the river, Clemins said she doesn’t know what’s been ruined — because it’s so waterlogged, she can’t get to it.

“Honestly, I have no idea. I won’t know until we see the extent of the damage and what needs to be replaced,” Clemins said.

Aside from cleaning up all the water and the damage, those affected by the storms also have another challenge: dealing with insurance companies.

‘It can be a very difficult time for people. You have a storm come through, you realize that your car is damaged, your house is damaged, maybe your personal belongings are damaged and it could be scary. People don’t necessarily know what to do, where to turn,” said Nathan Houdek, who is the state’s insurance commissioner.

The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance serves as the state’s watchdog for the industry.

“We’re here for people who have questions about dealing with their insurance policy, or for people who maybe feel like they’re not being treated fairly,” he said.

While many residents have never encountered natural disasters before, Houdek strongly recommends keeping good records in the aftermath.

“Before you start cleaning up anything or spending money on any repairs, make sure you document the damage, take pictures, create an inventory of anything that’s been damaged,” he urged.

Houdek also said people should resist the urge to move too fast during clean-up.

“Before you make any major purchases or throw anything away, you really want to work with the adjuster to make sure that you’re doing everything and complying with what you need to make sure that the claim is handled properly,” he explained.

But what if a claim isn’t being handled properly?

“If you feel like your insurance company or the adjuster is not treating you fairly in terms of covering things that you feel like should be covered by your policy, that’s when we encourage people to contact our office to potentially file a complaint or just to ask questions,” Houdek said.

He also noted that insurance policies vary widely and can be very different depending on the company and specific coverage. It pays to read the fine print.

“We encourage people to really check their insurance coverage regularly to make sure that the coverage they have is appropriate and provides the necessary protection,” Houdek added.

One very pertinent example of that is what the people in Waupaca County are going going through.

“If you have damage or you experience a loss from flooding, that typically isn’t covered by a homeowner’s policy,” Houdek explained.

He said that Wisconsin residents who actually have flood insurance are very few and far between.

“Through the National Flood Insurance Program, there’s only about 10,000 policies statewide — and obviously we’re a state of about 6 million people,” noted Houdek.

But he said flood insurance can be affordable — and worth it.

“Even if you’re not in a designated floodplain or in a place where you experience flooding regularly, really you want to consider getting flood insurance, because we’re seeing more and more situations where flooding is occurring in places where it really never has before,” Houdek said. “Even one inch of water can cause as much as $25,000 of damage.

Roy Toepke is a lifelong Fremont resident.

‘I’m going to be 73 shortly and never been anything close to this as far as flooding,” he said.

Toepke hadn’t been back to his home since evacuation orders were given. He doesn’t have flood insurance.

“We have an exposed basement that I think may have had some water come in. We’ll find out when we get there,” Toepke said. “We didn’t really look into flood insurance because technically there’s never been flooding where we’re at, but might be something we need to look at in the future.”

Worse than not having flood insurance is not having any insurance at all.

“There is a lot of people on the river that do not have homeowner’s insurance because of the cost or just because, yeah, they just don’t have it,” Falke said.

Clemins is one resident who has flood insurance.

“Luckily we do,” she said. “We have a call in to them to start the process. Of course, it takes a while. We also have regular insurance.”

Those who may have insurance, though, may not have enough or the right kind.

“Sometimes that doesn’t cover lost wages,” Clemins said. “So for those folks that have businesses that they rely on for income, it’s going to be hard on those folks.”

Early estimates on the water damage from the storms in central Wisconsin are already in the millions and continue to climb — and that’s not counting all of the time spent and tears already shed.

“It’s going to be a long haul before we’re able to get it up and going again,” Clemins said.