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Wisconsin National Guard to help provide Hurricane Michael assistance

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The Wisconsin National Guard will assist victims of Hurricane Michael. Twelve members of the Army National Guard will conduct relief operations in Florida.

Two Black Hawk medevac helicopters with hoist capabilities from the Army Guard’s West Bend facility reported for active duty on Wednesday, to prepare for deployment to Florida.

Walker requests federal disaster declaration

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Storm damage assessments from FEMA exceed $37 million, and Governor Scott Walker has requested a federal disaster declaration. The Thursday request is for both public assistance and individual assistance from the federal government.

“The storms Wisconsin experienced during August and September claimed two lives and caused massive amounts of damage in several communities,” a statement by the governor said. “The effect of the storms on the people of Wisconsin is severe, and the resources needed to help with their recovery far exceed what state and local officials currently have available. It is essential that the federal government provide needed assistance.”

Last week teams from FEMA were in the areas impacted by the August and September severe storms. The review determined 370 private homes were destroyed or suffered major damage.

Walker requests FEMA damage assessment in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct a Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) beginning September 24, for flood and tornado damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructure.

“Many Wisconsin families are hurting following the devastating flooding and tornado outbreak that has impacted our state in the last three weeks,” Walker said i a statement. “We want to get federal disaster relief as quickly as possible to help these families and communities recover.”

The request is the first step in seeking a federal disaster declaration.

Teams from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration will coordinate with state and local officials beginning the week of September 24 assess  damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure like roads bridges.

That will take approximately a week to complete.

Once the assessment is complete, information will be given to the governor for use in his request to the Trump administration for a federal disaster declaration.

 

Wisconsin Red Cross volunteers will help hurricane Florence victims

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More than 30 American Red Cross volunteers from Wisconsin are on their way to Virginia and the Carolinas, to assist people in the path of Hurricane Florence.

Hillary Wanecke of Milwaukee also volunteered to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. “It’s a good experience every time, you know you’re helping people,” Wanecke. “I’m going because I’m trained, and I like helping people.”

Two emergency vehicles from the Wisconsin Red Cross have also been sent to the Carolinas.

 

Hurricane Florence may start impacting the east coast as soon as Thursday morning. There is a threat of tornadoes Thursday with the storm expected to make landfall Friday or Saturday. Upwards of 40 inches of rain is expected in North Carolina alone.

Madison’s East Johnson Street reopens to traffic

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Things are getting back to normal in Madison after record flooding. East Johnson Street in Madison is open again — but only in one lane in each direction. There’s still some flood-water on the outside lanes, and drivers are asked to go slowly.

East Johnson is a major connection between downtown and the east side, which has been dealing with record flooding for the better part of the last three weeks.

Rains & flooding fuel mosquito outbreak in southern Wisconsin

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File photo

Rain and flooding has brought out the mosquitoes in southern Wisconsin. UW-Madison entomologist Susan Paskewitz says they bring two concerns with them — disease and the nuisance factor.

“I think that it’s going to probably to swing more to the side of the annoyance — those annoying little mosquitoes that are driving a lot of people to call me up and complain — as opposed to these other disease transmiting mosquitoes,” Paskewitz said.

Paskewitz works with Public Health Madison & Dane County, to collect both types in the summer. “In normal years, at this time of the year, things are beginning to tail off and we have a hard time collecting very many of them. This is going to be an outlier, a very unusual year.”

Paskewitz said hopefully, the return of cool weather later this month will stop our swatting.

UPDATE: Weather Service confirms 17 tornadoes in Wisconsin

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The number of confirmed tornadoes this week now stands at 17. The National Weather Service spent Thursday surveying the damage done in Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette and Sheboygan counties.

Five of the 16 tornadoes confirmed by the government meteorologists were in Fond du Lac County, the most powerful an E-F-2 with winds of 125 miles-an-hour, which stayed on the ground for several miles. Wisconsin has experienced 26 confirmed tornadoes so far this year.

Governor Scott Walker issued a statewide emergency declaration this week in the wake of the tornadoes and torrential rains, which resulted in widespread flooding.

NOTE: This report was updated. There was 1 confirmed tornado on Monday, 16 on Tuesday.

Tornadoes confirmed, flood danger continues

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The National Weather Service has confirmed 7 tornadoes in Wisconsin, as a line of severe thunderstorms swept across the state on Tuesday afternoon.

One tornado was a confirmed EF2 tornado, five were confirmed as EF1s and one was found to be a small EF0.

The tornadoes were all confirmed by NWS during surveys of damage in Fond du Lac County and northern Dodge County on Wednesday.

Southern Wisconsin flooding may get worse before it gets better.

The National Weather Service predicts 1″ to 1.5″ of rain north of Madison, 1″ to 1.5″ in the Madison area, and 2″ to 3″ to the southwest from Friday night through Sunday.

With a chance for additional showers and storms into the middle of next week, that could extend and perhaps worsen the flooding in the region.

Governor Walker declares statewide emergency

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An emergency due to heavy rains, flooding and tornadoes in Wisconsin is now statewide. Governor Scott Walker issued the declaration on Wednesday afternoon.

“After the latest round of continuing storms and their tremendous impact in Wisconsin, we have declared a statewide State of Emergency,” Walker said in a statement. “We are ready to provide any tools and resources necessary to impacted communities. I thank all of those who continue to work diligently to help those in need.”

Also on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and Representative Ron Kind requested federal agency assistance for flooded communities in Southwest Wisconsin.

 

Driver drowns at Merrimac Ferry landing

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A man died Tuesday night after driving a car into the Wisconsin River at the Merrimac Ferry landing. Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said 57-year-old Scott L. Kirkpatrick, from Middleton, was driving a 2015 Chevrolet Trax southbound on State Highway 113 when he approached the ferry landing.

Sheriff Meister says it appears Kirkpatrick did not realize the road lead into the lake as the vehicle plunged into the lake.

Kirkpatrick and a woman passenger were able to get out of the vehicle.  She swam to shore but Fitzpatrick was unable to make it to shore, according to Sheriff Meister.

WIBA