Governor Evers Visits Fond du Lac, Tours Flood Damage

Photo: City Manager Joe Moore briefs Governor Evers on the March 14th flooding in Fond du Lac

Governor Tony Evers visited Fond du Lac today (Tuesday) to learn more about flooding that impacted the city on March 14th into the 15th. Evers spoke first at Fire Station #1 and received a briefing on the flood event from City Manager Joe Moore before moving on to view a home damaged by the flooding on Lincoln Avenue. During his remarks, Evers paid special thanks to first responders, along with other agencies like the Red Cross, Salvation Army and other volunteer groups and agencies who “worked tirelessly, hour-after-hour the past couple of weeks to make sure that everybody was safe, that property was valued appropriately and to make sure the work of the city went forward as much as it could.“ Evers also praised the community for coming together during a challenging time. “That community spirit – whether its large towns, small towns, rural areas – with people working together to make sure that no disaster will overcome their spirit, I think that is what Wisconsin is all about,” he said. Evers added he is working with state agencies to see if there is a way to provide assistance to those impacted by flooding across the state.

Both Evers and Wisconsin Emergency Management Administrator Brian Satula encouraged people affected by the flood to continue to report their damage to the county by calling 2-1-1. “A lot of times the first question to come out is ‘Is FEMA going to be here?’ We are a long way away from any decision on whether FEMA would be here,” Satula said. “We have to do that damage assessment first. Reporting your damage, taking pictures, it gets to your county Emergency Management and of course they report it up to the state.” He says they then take damage estimates, refine the numbers and see if a number of thresholds are met before they recommend the Governor ask for a presidential disaster declaration. Satula says they are still working with damage estimates, so its essential for residents to report those to the county.