FEMA assessments continue as disaster list grows
Workers from the Federal Emergency Management
Agency were in Jefferson County Friday assessing damage from
flooding, where danger still lurks from rising waters on the Rock
and Crawfish rivers. The cities of Jefferson and Fort Atkinson have
seen widespread flooding.
"FEMA has been everywhere," said Gov. Jim Doyle. "They've been
great."
Doyle -- who toured Jefferson and Rock counties Friday -- predicted
Jefferson County would soon join 19 other Wisconsin counties that
have been declared disaster areas by FEMA. The designation allows
individuals to apply for federal grants and loans.
Many homes in Jefferson County have been flooded out, and the Tyson
Foods plant in Jefferson, which employs about 500 people, was
closed June 11 with no date set for re-opening.
The 19 counties declared federal disaster areas so far include:
Columbia, Crawford, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Iowa,
Kenosha, Marquette, Milwaukee, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk,
Sheboygan, Vernon, Washington, Waukesha and Winnebago. Doyle had
named 30 counties as being in a state of emergency earlier in the
flooding.
Meanwhile State Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen who toured flood-ravaged areas of Iowa, Richland and Vernon counties Thursday, said farmers will receive some governmental support for losses from the vast floods, but the amount remains to be determined.
"It is too early to know what all the agricultural resources will be to help mitigate losses and I do not want to over-promise what will be available," Nilsestuen said. "But U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer assured me on Wednesday that no one will have to shoulder all the losses alone.
"This was the worst flood in my memory and I am truly impressed by the resilience shown by the farmers and communities I visited. People are working together night and day to clean up and recover, but it will be a trying year for all. Our heart goes out to them."
Nilsestuen toured the small Iowa County community of Avoca, which was evacuated at one point during the flooding; the hard-hit town of Viola in Vernon County; and several farms in the three-county area.
Next week the U.S. Senate will consider a special measure to provide $480 million in funding for agriculture in response to the flooding in Wisconsin and other states in the Midwest. The bill offers assistant to rehabilitate farmland and rebuild infrastructure damaged in the floods.
Dane County Department of Emergency Management released new damage figures Friday, saying it is now estimating more than $77.6 million worth of flood damage in the county, which includes an estimate of $64 million in agricultural damages.
The figures are up by nearly $3 million over last week's estimate, with additional residents reporting damage to homes and additional losses and expenditures by government entities adding to the total.
Wisconsin Emergency Management officials estimated Friday at least $470 million in damage has been caused in the state, although those figures, like Dane County's, will rise as damage continues to be assessed.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
