Governor Scott Walker Requests Federal Disaster Declaration for Several Wisconsin Counties
Thursday, July 24th, 2014 -- 10:04 AM
-Governor Scott Walker has requested a federal disaster declaration for local government costs associated with the record severe winter weather of 2013-14.The counties in the declaration request are Clark, Wood, Marathon and Chippewa as well as Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Winnebago. This declaration would help pay for $11.3 million in damage to public infrastructure in those counties. Examples of damage include broken water mains and frozen water towers due to the extreme cold and record setting frost depths.
Initial Uniform Disaster Situation Reports showed damage from the extreme cold totaled in excess of $25 million in 69 Wisconsin counties. After those initial reports came in, Wisconsin Emergency Management submitted a sample group of counties representing a cross-section of the state for a technical review. The selected counties supplied extensive data on the depth of frost and on the documented damage. This review became the Preliminary Damage Assessment for those counties which were listed in the disaster declaration request submitted yesterday. If the declaration request is approved, PDA?s will be conducted in other affected counties to see if they would be eligible to be added to the declaration.
There are several requirements that communities in the county would need to meet before the funds could be received.
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