washed away. It was pretty bad.
>> Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley
emergency on Sunday as the Executive David Crowley %
scope of the flooding was immediately evident. At
week's end, David Crowley joins us for what's
happening now and what's next. And thanks very much
for being here. >> Thank you for having me.
Frederick, always a >> So now, just under a week
since these torrential rains and flooding, what is
happening in Milwaukee right now, in the aftermath?
>> Well, we've had an opportunity to talk to many
different neighbors and businesses, and a lot of
them are facing a lot of devastation and really
heartbroken as far as what this severe weather has done
to them. And so right now, we are in the recovery mode.
And so we have damage assessment teams working in
conjunction with not only our local officials, but as
well as the Wisconsin Emergency Management. And
our job is to make sure we do this analysis report that
damage. Hopefully we'll be getting that preliminary
data done today. We'll be then turning that over to
the Wisconsin Emergency Management System to see if
we can get a FEMA declaration. I've heard that
they may be coming as soon as next week. More to hear
on that. But when they're here, that gives an
opportunity to an analysis of our our damage report.
And for them to actually tour and see the damage
themselves before making a declaration.
>> What is the scope of the damage? Do you know yet? Do
you have kind of a ballpark dollar damage figure?
>> Well, when you think about a 1000 year flood, it
could create a lot, of lot of damage, right? Thousand
year rain storm coming into our community. And so far
we've had the opportunity to actually assess over 2900
different levels of properties. And we see a lot
of properties that have either major damage or
completely destroyed. And so we know that when it comes
down to our public infrastructure, it exceeds
$23 million to date at this moment. And so as we
continue to do these damage assessments, we're just
asking for the public's patience to contact 211 as
much as possible to report that damage so we can give
an accurate assessment. >> What was worst hit?
>> You know, I don't think you know, when we talk about
Milwaukee County, I would say what was worst hit is,
is our pride. You know, this is something that we never
really understood was coming our way. But when you see
what has happened in Greenfield, what has
of Milwaukee, including Wauwatosa, there's a lot of
damage. And we've also heard about other communities
outside of Milwaukee County who've also faced a certain
level of damage. And so it is our hope that we will be
able to receive some level of FEMA assistance compared
to what we've seen out there. With my own eyes, I
do think that we've reached that threshold for a
presidential declaration. >> How are residents coping?
>> You know, residents are doing everything that they
can. Many are heartbroken. But I've also seen many
folks who whose spirits are still high. And I'm glad to
see folks helping out. I've been going to different
neighborhoods, seeing neighbors, businesses,
really stepping up. But with this community really needs
is for their neighbors. You know, folks from all across
the state to really come down and assist with the
cleanup, helping us to get to those recovery efforts,
getting to that place of normal as much, as much as
we can and as quickly as possible. But I want folks
to know that, you know, our spirits aren't broken. You
know, we are strong and resilient Milwaukee County,
everything that we can to not only recover, but to
rebuild the best way possible.
>> You're kind of putting a call out for people to come
to help. Is there enough help on the ground?
>> You know, when you're when you're talking about
the level of devastation and not just the physical
damage, but the psychological damage that
this can have? You know, we need as much help as
possible, right? I mean, there are so many seniors,
people with disabilities who still haven't been able to
clean out their basements and still have, you know,
severe damage in their in their basements. But you
also have individuals who have lost, you know, their
foundation completely and, you know, have close to
three feet of mud and water still in their basements and
needing the help to clean those things up. And so we
do need as much help as possible. We're asking folks
to not only contact the Red cross to, to provide some
level of assistance, but we do have our website, County
dot gov slash 2025 flood resources, where individuals
can sign up to create their own volunteer teams to go
out and help individuals. >> Are you optimistic that
FEMA will deliver federal disaster aid here?
>> You know, I am hopeful that they will be able to
give us that federal declaration. When you think
about the level of damage, again, $23 million in public
infrastructure alone and seeing homes who are already
being quoted, $100,000 in order to rebuild to the to
the magnitude that they feel comfortable with. I mean,
that's quite extreme. And we know that, you know,
insurance isn't going to cover everything for
individuals. And so if we want to bring back
individual assistance and be able to rebuild the best way
possible, that declaration is going to be extremely key
moving forward. And so I'm grateful for Governor Evers
and making the state declaration. And so
that at the federal level soon.
>> Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley,
thanks very much and good thanks very much and good