Baldwin Calls for Federal Disaster Relief for Wisconsin

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin on N. 80th Street calling for federal disaster relief. Photo taken Aug. 15, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin joined local elected officials to survey damage and call for federal disaster relief Friday afternoon.

Baldwin is part of a bipartisan group of Wisconsin congressional representatives calling on President Donald Trump to make an emergency declaration, opening the state up for federal disaster relief from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).

She joined Mayor Cavalier Johnson and County Executive David Crowley at a flood damaged home on N. 80th Street to call for federal disaster relief. The home belongs to the mayor’s uncle. Floodwaters caved in the foundation.

Local governments, including the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, are working to assess the level of damage, document it and report it to Wisconsin Emergency Management. The state will use the information to prove to FEMA the threshold for federal disaster relief.

What that threshold is, specifically, remains unclear. As does the process for individuals seeking support from insurance companies and the government. During a press conference, Baldwin, the mayor and the county executive fielded questions about insurance claims and damage reports.

Officials are encouraging residents to report damage, whether it’s to the city or through the county’s 211 system. Residents with flood damage can call 211 or file a written damage report through an online portal. Crews from the county’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) are working to assess damage reports.

The city’s Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) has also set up a phone line to report flood damage. The city’s inspectors are also looking for safety issues and alerting occupants, Johnson said.

“[DNS] has inspected nearly 3,000 homes across Milwaukee, and a large percentage have been what’s called ‘major damage’ to those properties,” Johnson said.

City Department of Public Works Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke said there are 4,000 requests pending for bulky item pickup. Crews have already addressed more than 1,000. Sanitation workers have also personally identified more than 2,000 homes damaged by the floods. Some roadways in the city, he said, have debris piled six feet high on both sides of the street.

Roughly 5,100 vehicles have gone to city-run drop off centers since they opened Sunday, Kruschke said. The centers, at least through Sunday, are open every day until 6 p.m.

“The damage throughout the area is overwhelming, and sadly, I believe that we have unfortunately surpassed the threshold for assistance from FEMA,” Johnson said.

Baldwin said that she would not “get into the weeds” on the thresholds required by FEMA for public and individual assistance. “It’s a complex system,” she said.

On Thursday, Baldwin and U.S. Representatives Gwen Moore (D) and Bryan Steil (R) co-signed a letter to FEMA and the president calling for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration. “We’ll be working to try to make sure we hold this administration to account and we hold FEMA to account,” she said.

Crowley called the damage he has witnessed “jaw dropping.” He reiterated that damage assessment is ongoing and asked local residents to clean out their basements “as quickly as possible” and to report damage to their properties.

He noted that the county is also estimating more than $23 million public infrastructure has been damaged, and that he hopes the federal government will grant assistance “to provide the residents the absolute relief that they need during these difficult times.”

“And, to be clear about this federal assistance, this isn’t about politics. We shouldn’t be here bickering about how we’re going to support communities who have been extremely impacted by this flood,” Crowley said. “This should be about how do we help out Milwaukee County residents and other residents in southeastern Wisconsin who have also been impacted, and that’s why we need President Trump to make this declaration for those who have been extremely impacted by this flood.”