COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
IF YOU'VE TRAVELED, VISITED OR
LIVED IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN
OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS,
YOU'VE SEEN DESTROYED ROADS AND
HIGHWAYS, RUINED HARBORS,
DAMAGED HOMES AND EVEN
FATALITIES.
THIS IS THE RESULT OF REPEATED
TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FLOODING
EVENTS, AND LOCALS IN THAT PART
OF THE STATE CONTINUE TO
STRUGGLE TO REBUILD
INFRASTRUCTURE.
TONIGHT, WE TAKE A DEEP DIVE
INTO THE ISSUE STARTING WITH
REPORTING FROM OUR PARTNERS AT
WISCONTEXT.
JOURNALIST WILL CUSHMAN TRAVELED
THE REGION.
THANKS A LOT FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
>> SO THESE WERE EVENTS FROM
2012, 2016 AND 2018.
WHAT COUNTIES SUFFERED?
>> RIGHT.
IT'S SEVEN COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST
WISCONSIN THAT WOULD BE DOUGLAS
COUNTY WHICH INCLUDES SUPERIOR
AS WELL AS BAYFIELD AND ASHLAND
AND IRON COUNTIES, AND THEN A
LITTLE BIT FARTHER TO THE SOUTH,
SAWYER, WASHBURN AND BURNETT
COUNTIES.
>> SO WAS NORTHWEST WISCONSIN
HIT HARDER THAN OTHER REGIONS?
>> THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION
AND I THINK PEOPLE ALL OVER THE
STATE WHO HAVE DEALT WITH FLASH
FLOODS ALSO ASKED THAT QUESTION.
THE THING THAT'S DIFFERENT IN
NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN IS THAT
THESE FLOODS HAVE BEEN REPEATED,
AS YOU SAID, THERE'S ONE BIG ONE
THAT HIT SUPERIOR PRETTY BADLY
IN 2012, AND THEN 2016 AND 2018.
>> NOW, THESE EVENTS ARE
DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THIS PART OF
THE STATE OR ANY PART OF THE
STATE HAS SEEN IN THE PAST, IS
THAT RIGHT?
>> YEAH, UNPRECEDENTED RAINFALL
IN SOME LOCATIONS FROM ALL OF
THE FLOODS.
THE 2016 FLOOD WAS PARTICULARLY
BAD IN SOME REGIONS.
THE BAD RIVER WHICH DRAINS A
LARGE PART OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN
INTO LAKE SUPERIOR REACHED
RECORD LEVELS THAT WERE 50%
BEYOND THE PREVIOUS RECORD, JUST
A HUGE 1,000-YEAR FLOOD THERE.
>> SO WHAT WERE THE COSTS OF
THIS?
>> IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS.
JUST TO PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
ALONE.
SO IN 2016, THAT ESTIMATE WAS AT
ABOUT $38 MILLION TO PUBLIC
INFRASTRUCTURE.
THE 2018 STORM CAUSED AN
ESTIMATED ABOUT $13 MILLION AND
THEN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MORE IN
2012.
>> INTERESTINGLY, YOUR REPORTING
SHOWS THAT HIGHWAY
INFRASTRUCTURE IN THAT PART OF
THE STATE HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY
UNDERBUILT.
WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?
>> YEAH, I THOUGHT THAT WAS
PRETTY FASCINATING PART OF THIS
REPORTING.
SO HIGHWAY ENGINEERS USE LIKE A
100-YEAR STORM STANDARD OFTEN TO
SIZE CULVERTS, WHICH ARE THE
PIPES THAT RUN STREAMS
UNDERNEATH ROADS AT STREAM
CROSSINGS.
NOT ALL HIGHWAY ENGINEERS DO
THAT BUT THAT'S KIND OF THE
COMMON STANDARD, SO THEY WERE
USING, UP IN THE REGION AND
EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY,
STANDARDS THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN
THE MID 20TH CENTURY FROM
PRESCRIPTION DATA FROM THEPRECIPITATION DATA.
THAT MADE OFFICIALS REALIZE THAT
THEY WERE REALLY UNDERESTIMATING
THE SIZE OF STORMS SO,
THEREFORE, THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN
PARTICULAR THE CULVERTS WERE
WOEFULLY INADEQUATE FOR SOME OF
THESE REALLY MAJOR STORMS THAT
WE'RE NOW SEEING.
>> MEANWHILE, ONE OFFICIAL SAID
IN YOUR REPORT THAT THERE IS
SIMPLY NO MONEY FOR THIS.
WHY IS THAT?
>> YEAH, I TALKED TO TOWNSHIP
AND COUNTY OFFICIALS ALL OVER
THE REGION AND THEY ALL SAID
THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY.
SOME TOWNSHIPS SAW DAMAGE THAT
COST, FROM A SINGLE STORM, MORE
THAN THEIR ENTIRE ANNUAL BUDGET,
AND THEN I TALKED TO OFFICIALS
IN DOUGLAS COUNTY WHO ALSO
BLAMED STATE IMPOSED LEVY
FREEZES THAT HAVE BEEN ONGOING
FOR YEARS NOW, AS WELL AS THE
OPIOID CRISIS.
IN RECENT YEARS, DOUGLAS COUNTY
HAS HAD TO TRANSFER HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OUT OF ITS
HIGHWAY BUDGET TO COVER THE COST
OF THE CRISIS.
>> WOW.
GREAT REPORTING.
WILL CUSHMAN, THANKS VERY MUCH.
>> THANKS SO MUCH.
>> YOU CAN READ WILL'S FULL
REPORT TITLED "WASHED AWAY,
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN COPES WITH
THE COSTS OF A CHANGING
CLIMATE," BY GOING