In August 2025, the Milwaukee area endured a thousand-year flood, which proved to be the country’s second-most expensive disaster of the year. At the onset of the downpour, a complex network of people, organizations, and activities sprang to life: issuing warnings and guidance, activating emergency operations centers, deploying rescue vehicles, monitoring the situation, and mobilizing volunteers. In the end, at least two people lost their lives, but the toll would have been much higher without this coordinated response.
Long after the water subsided, much work remained to be done. Initial estimates indicated that over 1,800 homes were damaged, 54 were deemed uninhabitable, and as people were displaced from their homes, the need for temporary shelter outpaced available facilities. County officials suggest that final estimates put that number closer to 25,000 homes damaged. Even those who could return to their homes faced health risks from mold, damaged electrical systems, and inoperable heating systems. When the federal government denied the region’s request for public assistance, elected officials expressed shock and disappointment and began looking into options to appeal the decision or find other ways to aid recovery.
What can we learn from this? In the coming years, Wisconsin is expected to face more frequent and more severe weather events such as extreme heat and cold, floods, and severe storms, all of which impact human health, economic activity, and infrastructure. To reduce the impacts of these events, county and local governments engage in emergency and hazard mitigation planning. However, these activities face federal funding cuts and an uncertain future, which underscores the importance of documenting what is currently in place.
To better understand how local governments in Wisconsin prepare for and respond to severe weather, we reviewed state and county-level hazard mitigation planning documents and analyzed FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) datasets on weather hazard frequency and impacts. We conducted interviews with emergency management leadership and staff from across the state to better understand how the institutions responsible for emergency management, including state agencies, local governments, and nonprofit organizations, translate plans into on-the-ground action. In addition to characterizing the statewide landscape of severe weather preparedness, we investigated three counties with contrasting characteristics as case studies to understand regional differences. While this report speaks to emergency preparedness as a general issue statewide, we include details on hazard mitigation planning as a critical piece of such preparedness.
This report is intended to help state leaders and residents better understand the severe weather threats facing Wisconsin and the state’s preparedness efforts. It also highlights practical steps that emergency managers believe can help communities better prepare for future severe weather events. Continue reading…