Federal disaster declaration requested for nine northern Wisconsin counties after flooding
MADISON -- Governor Scott Walker sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Wednesday, August 3rd requesting a federal disaster declaration for nine northern Wisconsin counties and the tribal nation of Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. This, after torrential rains and flash floods last month caused more than $25 million in damage to roads and public infrastructure. The request is for federal assistance to help local governments recover from the disaster.
Gov. Walker requested federal disaster assistance for the following counties:
CLICK HERE to read the letter from Gov. Walker to Pres. Obama
Gov. Scott Walker declared a state of emergency for nine Wisconsin counties and one tribal government in the wake of the July 12 storms, which authorizes Wisconsin's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, to call National Guard forces to state active duty to assist local authorities with recovery efforts.
Local townships requested the Guard's assistance with recovery efforts related to continuous storms that have impacted the area, and teams of Soldiers and Airmen from the Wisconsin Army and Air National Guard moved to the area this week to begin debris removal and road repair missions.
National Guard engineers were asked to complete debris removal missions in the townships of Barksdale, Eileen, Pilsen, Port Wing and Tripp, Wisconsin, as well as road repair missions in Grand View and Lincoln, Wisconsin. Additional missions from other municipalities may be forthcoming as well.
Guard engineers also conducted a bridge assessment at the heavily damaged Saxon Harbor in Iron County.
Torrential rain and extreme flooding caused more than $25 million in damage to public infrastructure and costs related to debris removal and emergency protective measures after the July 12 storm and continuous storms in the region throughout the month resulted in wind damage and more debris.
Elements of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 724th Engineer Battalion headquartered in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin - and specifically the Prairie Du Chien and Platteville, Wisconsin-based 229th Engineer Company - along with route clearance teams from the Wisconsin Air National Guard's Madison, Wisconsin-based 115th Fighter Wing and Milwaukee-based 128th Air Refueling Wing make up the task force responding to the request for Guard assistance.
The 229th Engineer Company specializes in road construction and will use those skills to repair damaged town and county roads in Grand View and Lincoln to restore access to those roadways in the short-term until Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) road construction contractors can complete permanent fixes in the months ahead. The DOT remains focused on restoring bridges and state and U.S. highways affected by the flooding.
"The local emergency managers in northwest Wisconsin have done a tremendous job managing the response to the flooding and wind damage that affected the area last month," Dunbar said. "The National Guard looks forward to assisting those emergency managers and helping return the region to a sense of normalcy as quickly as possible."