Fox Cities continue to recover from weekend flooding, mayor makes appeal for financial aid

APPLETON - After getting hit with roughly 1 to 3 1/2 inches of rain on July 13, according to the National Weather Service, Outagamie County leadership is working to provide for residents of the Fox Cities after they were hit with multiple floods in a short time span.

After the July 5 storms hit the Fox Valley, the city of Appleton created a bulk trash collection for residents who had destroyed items from the flood. According to Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford, over 40,000 pounds of trash and building material were collected.

Woodford told the Post-Crescent Monday that one of the goals the city has been working on is giving individual assistance to homeowners. However, it has been proven to be difficult, as he claims most homeowners don't carry coverage for water damage of basements.

Another bump in the road has come from getting money from the state.

"What we what we've been hearing from the state is that under these circumstances, we don't qualify for aid programs that are available. The overall event isn't likely to trigger the kind of declaration from the federal government that would be required in addition to the just disaster criteria that are set forth for Federal Emergency Management aid programs," Woodford said. "I've also been looking into consultation with local philanthropic organizations to try and see if there's a way to have some kind of local assistance available through donor supported funds."

Outagamie County announced on Monday that it will partner with the city of Appleton and the United Way to collect damage reports from citizens. When they call 211, residents can report damages to their homes from this past weekend and any other storms following that.

The press release also asks residents to continue documenting damages with photos, and keep receipts of clean-up efforts in case funding does become available.

"211 will collect that information and hold it and make it available to public officials so that we can gather that data and better understand the total impact," Woodford said.

To the east, the village of Kimberly is working with American Red Cross through Outagamie County Emergency Management to provide residents with clean up kits. The kit includes a gallon of bleach, a mop, a broom, a squeegee, garbage bags, masks, and other items.

Kits can be picked up — while supplies last — between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, at Village Hall, 515 W. Kimberly Ave.

Rashad Alexander can be contacted at ralexander@gannett.com.