Garden Street in Ontario, near Highway 33, during the Aug. 28 floods
President Donald J. Trump has approved a federal disaster declaration to help individuals and local communities impacted by devastating floods and strong storms that occurred in August and September, Gov. Scott Walker announced today.
Earlier this month, Governor Walker requested federal disaster aid.
“This is welcome news to many people whose lives were impacted by recent flooding,” Walker said. “There still is a lot of work to be done and more assistance that is needed.”
Under the declaration, individuals, families, and businesses in Crawford, Dane, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Sauk and Vernon counties are now eligible to apply for federal disaster assistance.
Several other counties that also sustained damage from flooding and tornadoes are still under review by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the Individual Assistance Program. Those counties are Adams, Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Marquette, Ozaukee and Washington. Walker said the state would continue to work with affected individuals and businesses in those counties to provide disaster relief.
In addition to requesting individual assistance, Walker also requested public assistance for local governments to help recover damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Counties approved for the Public Assistance Program are Adams, Crawford, Dane, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Iron, Juneau, La Crosse, Marquette, Monroe, Ozaukee, Richland, Sauk and Vernon counties. Under the Public Assistance Program, FEMA provides 75 percent reimbursement of eligible costs, while the state and local agencies share the remaining 25 percent.
Wisconsin Emergency Management, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration will begin to implement the declaration, which will take several months. Individuals and businesses in the declared counties will soon be able to register with FEMA for disaster assistance.
