Here & Now

Shoreline Damage in Racine Co. Washes Up Need for Aid

Frederica Freyberg:

Wisconsin is putting in for a FEMA damage assessment of Lake Michigan shoreline damage in the southeast part of the state. In tonight’s inside look, why Governor Evers wants an official tally of damage to public infrastructure in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties. Those counties this week reported a combined estimate of $30 million in damage that occurred as a result of winter storms and lakeshore flooding earlier this month. The FEMA assessment is the first step to determine whether the state will request a federal disaster declaration. Tonight we check in with the Racine County Emergency Coordinator David Maack and thanks very much for being here.

David Maack:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Describe what the damage is in your county, in Racine County, because of those storms.

David Maack:

We saw a lot of damage along the shoreline. We had a 2.5 mile stretch basically from Carre-Hogle Park all the way up to the Wind Point Lighthouse that sustained damage to public infrastructure. What I want to point out is that most of this isn’t erosion or bluff-type issues, although we did have one slope over by the zoo beach where we have a bike path that a good portion of it fell away. A lot of it had to do with storm water outfalls, with rocks along the shoreline, clean-up of debris and things like that. But for us, we’re looking at probably over $6 million worth of damages that need to be repaired. And that’s just restoration, restoring things back to the way they were. That’s not including any improvements or mitigation efforts.

Frederica Freyberg:

Right. I want to ask you about that in a minute, but Lake Michigan water levels, I understand, are reported to be 37 inches higher than average water levels in January. How does that combine with these kinds of winter storms like the one earlier this month that caused that damage?

David Maack:

You know, I guess you could call this the perfect storm. There were 58-mile-per-hour winds that were recorded in the city of Racine. You had the high, very high, lake levels. You didn’t have the shoreline ice that usually holds back the waves this time of year. And so you just had a number of compounding issues. But those high winds, coupled with the high water levels, caused a lot of damage along the shoreline there.

Frederica Freyberg:

That must have been something to kind of behold if you were there along that shoreline when that storm came in.

David Maack:

We ended up closing down Pershing Drive, but there was some social media pictures out there that showed what the waves were doing that day, and they were very, very impressive to look at. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to see them up front and close.

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, we’ve done some reporting about how FEMA funds, even if they do come, require rebuilding infrastructure to current specs, not making them more resilient to rising water or sustained storm events. First of all, is that accurate? And, if so, what about that?

David Maack:

Well, we do have a hazard mitigation plan, and there are, after any disaster, there has been mitigation funds that become available that municipalities can apply for, so they can look at mitigation projects at that time. But when you’re looking at this type of assistance, the key is they’re not going to pay you more than what something’s worth. It’s an equity issue. And so they’re going to pay you to restore something, not to improve it. You know, they’re going to give you what it’s worth. It’s kind of like the same thing with insurance. You have a car and you’re in an accident, they’re not going to give you more than what the car is worth.

Frederica Freyberg:

But is it your sense that these kinds of public infrastructure installations need something more going forward because of climate change?

David Maack:

Well, I’m not an engineer, and I haven’t looked at specifically what the city has in place right now. That’s a question that really the city public works department and their engineers have to answer. You know, it’s going to take engineering studies to determine whether or not what they have along the shoreline is adequate for this or if it needs to be reinforced. And so I’m really not in a position where I could give you a definitive answer. You know, I’ll only say that I understand where FEMA wants to pay to restore something, and it’s been a while since I’ve overseen a declaration like this, so I’m not sure what the current rules are, but you would think it would make sense to pay the cost to restore, but allow a municipality if they want to spend the extra dollars to make the improvements. I’m not sure if that’s allowed or not and that’s questions that we’ll find out if we reach the next step.

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, given the high water levels of the lake and the erosion along the shoreline, we’re wondering about private property, because we know that this damage assessment is for public property. But we’ve all seen these images of these lakefront homes either kind of teetering at eroded edges or falling to the shore. Is that an issue in your county?

David Maack:

It is an issue in our county, and the municipalities and the counties have been working on that particular issue. The state’s been involved. The federal government’s been involved in it. It’s not the scope of this emergency declaration. This has been an ongoing issue. And so when it comes to public sector damage, private sector damage, the criteria that FEMA has has to be met and from this particular storm the criteria wasn’t there to ask for individual assistance for homeowners.

Frederica Freyberg:

If Racine County does not in fact get this FEMA assistance, can the county afford to fix this damage without federal aid?

David Maack:

Well, it’s the municipalities that were impacted on it. When we did the damage assessment, at this time the county itself has not incurred any expenses. It was the city of Racine and the village of Wind Point. And so there is a secondary program out there. It’s called the Wisconsin Disaster Fund. And if we don’t get the presidential disaster declaration, they may be eligible for reimbursement under the Wisconsin Disaster Fund. It’s not as robust as a presidential disaster declaration, won’t cover all the costs, but at least it would offer some relief.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Well, David Maack, thanks very much for joining us.

David Maack:

Thank you.