Gov. Tony Evers on Monday directed Wisconsin Emergency Management to submit a request for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist the state in conducting a formal federal preliminary damage assessment of damage caused by severe storms on July 27.
The severe storms included at least one confirmed EF-3 tornado in the Menasha/Appleton area, along with high winds, hail, power outages and disruptions to public water systems.
The storms caused widespread and significant damage in Forest, Outagamie, Vilas and Winnebago counties.
A formal federal preliminary damage assessment is the next step in the process after an initial local and state damage assessment is conducted. It is an important step toward Wisconsin submitting a formal disaster declaration request to President Donald Trump.
This marks the third bout of severe storms that has rocked Wisconsin recently, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in damages.
Additional counties may be added to this request after verifying pending county damage assessment information.
“Families, businesses, and entire neighborhoods are hurting after yet another bout of severe weather across the state, and while our dedicated local governments, emergency responders, and neighbors have been working countless hours to rebuild their communities, there is a long road to recovery ahead of us,” Evers said in a press release.
“As a state, we are doing all that we can to support local recovery efforts, and this is the next step towards requesting formal assistance from our federal partners so we can continue to support our communities during this long recovery process.”
Once the assessment is complete, the next step would be for Evers to submit a formal request for a major disaster declaration. A major disaster declaration must be approved by the president and determines which, if any, types of federal assistance will be provided.
The state’s latest request for aid comes as the Trump administration has repeatedly come under fire from Democrats for slashing funding for emergency preparedness and response at FEMA while allegedly prioritizing Republican-run states to receive disaster relief.
The administration has denied FEMA assistance for damages caused by severe storms in April. Evers announced last week that Wisconsin is filing an appeal for the federal disaster aid.
