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washed away. It was pretty
bad.

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>> Milwaukee County
Executive David Crowley

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emergency on Sunday as the
Executive David Crowley <u>%</u>

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scope of the flooding was
immediately evident. At

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week's end, David Crowley
joins us for what's

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happening now and what's
next. And thanks very much

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for being here.
>> Thank you for having me.

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Frederick, always a
>> So now, just under a week

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since these torrential rains
and flooding, what is

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happening in Milwaukee right
now, in the aftermath?

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>> Well, we've had an
opportunity to talk to many

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different neighbors and
businesses, and a lot of

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them are facing a lot of
devastation and really

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heartbroken as far as what
this severe weather has done

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to them. And so right now,
we are in the recovery mode.

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And so we have damage
assessment teams working in

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conjunction with not only
our local officials, but as

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well as the Wisconsin
Emergency Management. And

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our job is to make sure we
do this analysis report that

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damage. Hopefully we'll be
getting that preliminary

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data done today. We'll be
then turning that over to

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the Wisconsin Emergency
Management System to see if

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we can get a FEMA
declaration. I've heard that

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they may be coming as soon
as next week. More to hear

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on that. But when they're
here, that gives an

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opportunity to an analysis
of our our damage report.

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And for them to actually
tour and see the damage

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themselves before making a
declaration.

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>> What is the scope of the
damage? Do you know yet? Do

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you have kind of a ballpark
dollar damage figure?

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>> Well, when you think
about a 1000 year flood, it

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could create a lot, of lot
of damage, right? Thousand

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year rain storm coming into
our community. And so far

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we've had the opportunity to
actually assess over 2900

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different levels of
properties. And we see a lot

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of properties that have
either major damage or

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completely destroyed. And so
we know that when it comes

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down to our public
infrastructure, it exceeds

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$23 million to date at this
moment. And so as we

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continue to do these damage
assessments, we're just

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asking for the public's
patience to contact 211 as

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much as possible to report
that damage so we can give

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an accurate assessment.
>> What was worst hit?

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>> You know, I don't think
you know, when we talk about

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Milwaukee County, I would
say what was worst hit is,

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is our pride. You know, this
is something that we never

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really understood was coming
our way. But when you see

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what has happened in
Greenfield, what has

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of Milwaukee, including
Wauwatosa, there's a lot of

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damage. And we've also heard
about other communities

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outside of Milwaukee County
who've also faced a certain

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level of damage. And so it
is our hope that we will be

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able to receive some level
of FEMA assistance compared

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to what we've seen out
there. With my own eyes, I

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do think that we've reached
that threshold for a

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presidential declaration.
>> How are residents coping?

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>> You know, residents are
doing everything that they

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can. Many are heartbroken.
But I've also seen many

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folks who whose spirits are
still high. And I'm glad to

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see folks helping out. I've
been going to different

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neighborhoods, seeing
neighbors, businesses,

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really stepping up. But with
this community really needs

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is for their neighbors. You
know, folks from all across

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the state to really come
down and assist with the

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cleanup, helping us to get
to those recovery efforts,

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getting to that place of
normal as much, as much as

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we can and as quickly as
possible. But I want folks

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to know that, you know, our
spirits aren't broken. You

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know, we are strong and
resilient Milwaukee County,

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everything that we can to
not only recover, but to

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rebuild the best way
possible.

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>> You're kind of putting a
call out for people to come

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to help. Is there enough
help on the ground?

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>> You know, when you're
when you're talking about

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the level of devastation and
not just the physical

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damage, but the
psychological damage that

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this can have? You know, we
need as much help as

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possible, right? I mean,
there are so many seniors,

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people with disabilities who
still haven't been able to

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clean out their basements
and still have, you know,

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severe damage in their in
their basements. But you

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also have individuals who
have lost, you know, their

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foundation completely and,
you know, have close to

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three feet of mud and water
still in their basements and

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needing the help to clean
those things up. And so we

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do need as much help as
possible. We're asking folks

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to not only contact the Red
cross to, to provide some

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level of assistance, but we
do have our website, County

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dot gov slash 2025 flood
resources, where individuals

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can sign up to create their
own volunteer teams to go

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out and help individuals.
>> Are you optimistic that

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FEMA will deliver federal
disaster aid here?

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>> You know, I am hopeful
that they will be able to

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give us that federal
declaration. When you think

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about the level of damage,
again, $23 million in public

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infrastructure alone and
seeing homes who are already

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being quoted, $100,000 in
order to rebuild to the to

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the magnitude that they feel
comfortable with. I mean,

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that's quite extreme. And we
know that, you know,

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insurance isn't going to
cover everything for

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individuals. And so if we
want to bring back

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individual assistance and be
able to rebuild the best way

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possible, that declaration
is going to be extremely key

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moving forward. And so I'm
grateful for Governor Evers

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and making the state
declaration. And so

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that at the federal level
soon.

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>> Milwaukee County
Executive David Crowley,

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thanks very much and good
thanks very much and good