Milwaukee Moves to Recovery After Record-Breaking Flooding

Frederica Freyberg:
Communities across Wisconsin were hit with severe weather, with record floods hitting the Milwaukee area. As the state awaits word on any federal aid, those on the ground got to work doing what they could.

Jonathan Horton:
I woke up in the middle of the night, about 3 a.m. Something just told me to check the basement. As soon as I got down there, my worst nightmare.

Frederica Freyberg:
Milwaukee and Waukesha County residents experienced a living nightmare.

Jonathan Horton:
When I got down there, I was checking the water drain and water was just gushing out of it. You know, I tried to put pressure on it, like it was an open wound or something.

Frederica Freyberg:
As two days of rainfall led to historic flooding. The deluge of water overwhelmed storm drains, caused flash floods, knocked out power, damaged homes, submerged cars and crumbled roads. No deaths have been reported to have been caused by flooding. During the intense rainfall, some areas experienced 10 to 13 inches of rain in a matter of hours, categorizing it as a 1,000-year flood, a record for the area, second only to flooding in 2008. Governor Tony Evers called it “unprecedented” and declared a state of emergency for flash flooding and storm damage across the state. The governor also requested FEMA support as Wisconsin Emergency Management said an initial state and local damage review suggests Wisconsin meets the threshold for federal aid. A formal presidential declaration is needed before any federal assistance will be provided. But there’s some damage, financial aid won’t fix.

Jonathan Horton:
My father had recently passed, and I had all of his boxes down in the basement, so a lot of memories got washed away. It was pretty bad.