County Exec. David Crowley on Milwaukee's Historic Flooding

Frederica Freyberg:
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley declared his own state of emergency on Sunday as the scope of the flooding was immediately evident. At week’s end, David Crowley joins us for what’s happening now and what’s next. And thanks very much for being here.

David Crowley:
Thank you for having me, Frederica, always a pleasure.

Frederica Freyberg:
So now, just under a week since these torrential rains and flooding, what is happening in Milwaukee right now, in the aftermath?

David Crowley:
Well, we’ve had an opportunity to talk to many different neighbors and businesses, and a lot of them are facing a lot of devastation and really heartbroken as far as what this severe weather has done to them. And so right now, we are in the recovery mode. And so we have damage assessment teams working in conjunction with not only our local officials, but as well as the Wisconsin Emergency Management. And our job is to make sure we do this analysis, report that damage. Hopefully we’ll be getting that preliminary data done today. We’ll be then turning that over to the Wisconsin Emergency Management System to see if we can get a FEMA declaration. I’ve heard that they may be coming as soon as next week. More to hear on that. But when they’re here, that gives them an opportunity to do an analysis of our damage report and for them to actually tour and see the damage themselves before making a declaration.

Frederica Freyberg:
What is the scope of the damage? Do you know yet? Do you have kind of a ballpark dollar damage figure?

David Crowley:
Well, when you think about a 1,000-year flood, it could create a lot, of lot of damage, right? Thousand-year rain storm coming into our community. And so far, we’ve had the opportunity to actually assess over 2900 different levels of properties. And we see a lot of properties who have either major damage or completely destroyed. And so we know that when it comes down to our public infrastructure, it exceeds $23 million to date at this moment. And so as we continue to do these damage assessments, we’re just asking for the public’s patience, to contact 211 as much as possible to report that damage so we can give an accurate assessment.

Frederica Freyberg:
What was worst hit?

David Crowley:
You know, I don’t think — you know, when we talk about Milwaukee County, I would say what was worst hit is, is our pride. You know, this is something that we never really understood was coming our way. But when you see what has happened in Greenfield, what has happened in West Allis, city of Milwaukee, including Wauwatosa, there’s a lot of damage. And we’ve also heard about other communities outside of Milwaukee County who’ve also faced a certain level of damage. And so it is our hope that we will be able to receive some level of FEMA assistance compared to what we’ve seen out there with my own eyes, I do think that we’ve reached that threshold for a presidential declaration.

Frederica Freyberg:
How are residents coping?

David Crowley:
You know, residents are doing everything that they can. Many are heartbroken. But I’ve also seen many folks who — whose spirits are still high. And I’m glad to see folks helping out. I’ve been going to different neighborhoods, seeing neighbors helping neighbors. Businesses really stepping up. But what this community really needs is for their neighbors, you know, folks from all across the state to really come down and assist with the cleanup, helping us to get to those recovery efforts, getting to that place of normal as much, as much as we can and as quickly as possible. But I want folks to know that, you know, our spirits aren’t broken. You know, we are strong and resilient Milwaukee County, and we’re going to do everything that we can to not only recover, but to rebuild the best way possible.

Frederica Freyberg:
You’re kind of putting a call out for people to come to help. Is there enough help on the ground?

David Crowley:
You know, when you’re, when you’re talking about the level of devastation and not just the physical damage, but the psychological damage that this can have, you know, we need as much help as possible, right? I mean, there are so many seniors, people with disabilities who still haven’t been able to clean out their basements and still have, you know, severe damage in their, in their basements. But you also have individuals who have lost, you know, their foundation completely and, you know, have close to three feet of mud and water still in their basements and needing the help to clean those things up. And so we do need as much help as possible. We’re asking folks to not only contact the Red Cross to, to provide some level of assistance, but we do have our website – county.milwaukee.gov/2025floodresources – where individuals can sign up to create their own volunteer teams to go out and help individuals.

Frederica Freyberg:
Are you optimistic that FEMA will deliver federal disaster aid here?

David Crowley:
You know, I am hopeful that they will be able to give us that federal declaration. When you think about the level of damage, again, $23 million in public infrastructure alone and seeing homes who are already being quoted $100,000 in order to rebuild to the, to the magnitude that they feel comfortable with. I mean, that’s quite extreme. And we know that, you know, insurance isn’t going to cover everything for individuals. And so if we want to bring back individual assistance and be able to rebuild the best way possible, that declaration is going to be extremely key moving forward. And so I’m grateful for Governor Evers and making the state declaration. And so hopefully we’ll be seeing that at the federal level soon.

Frederica Freyberg:
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, thanks very much and good luck.

David Crowley:
Thank you so much for having me.