President Trump approves $29.8M for Wisconsin flood disaster relief

Senator Ron Johnson said on X, "I just had a great call with @POTUS who approved Wisconsin’s request for flood disaster relief. Thank you to President Trump for continuing to deliver BIG TIME for Wisconsinites. Also, thank you to @RepBryanSteil and @RepFitzgerald for helping lead the charge to obtain the much-needed federal assistance."

Local leaders across the state say this disaster declaration approval from the President is a step in the right direction.

"The people who live in the region who were affected by these storms at the end of the day they are American citizens and they needed their federal government and their president to step up to help, to address the flooding that we had here in our community," said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. "So, I'm grateful."

While Mayor Johnson says he's grateful for the help, he says finding out through social media leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

"As much as I'm appreciative for the announcement, it was a tweet, it wasn’t an official declaration," said Johnson. "So, I think there is still more to uncover here, so I'm looking forward to continued conversations and seeing what more may come of this."

FEMA crews conducted damage assessments throughout southeast Wisconsin last month which led to the approval of the funding. 

The state of Wisconsin estimated, $33 million in individual damages, with 1,500 residences damaged or destroyed. That's in addition to the $43 million in public damages for the state. With President Trump approving $29.8 million, that leaves around $46 million in damages unanswered for.

However Representative Bryan Steil says it's still early in the process.

"I think we're going to look at the details as the report comes through and again, he is doing this in advance to the preliminary damage assessment even being complete and that's really positive that the President acted as quickly as he did," said Steil. "That's good for the Milwaukee region."

The disaster declaration funds for FEMA's Individual Assistance Program will go to Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties. FEMA's Public Assistance Program funds will go towards those three counties in addition to Door, Grant and Ozaukee counties.

Governor Tony Evers Office says at this time, the presidential disaster declaration is only applicable for individuals and households in Milwaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties. FEMA will set a certain date by which flood survivors must apply for Individual Assistance.

The governor’s request to receive Public Assistance to help support emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities in Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties remains under review by the Trump Administration. Additionally, the Trump Administration is also still reviewing the governor’s request for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which helps support flood mitigation measures, such as structure acquisition/demolition, structure elevation, and storm sewer upgrades, to provide opportunities to avoid future loss of life and eliminate repetitive, expensive flood damage in these communities.

The anticipated nearly $30 million reportedly approved is the federal share of the validated damage submitted in the governor’s Individual Assistance request.  Once the Individual Assistance application process starts, the actual monetary amount of benefits will be based upon eligible applications that are submitted and approved through the process.

For more information on the disaster assistance process, visit DisasterAssistance.gov or visit the site’s Frequently Asked Questions page here.