Tomah Journal - Printable Version

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Published - Thursday, July 03, 2008

Vernon County flood damage near $75 million

Tim Hundt and Matt Johnson

Damage caused by floods that took place on June 7-8 in Vernon County could wind up topping $75 million, according to Vernon County Emergency Management Director Jerry Crotsenberg.

So far, Vernon County officials have tallied damage totalling $12.5 million from flooding. Crotsenberg said the most recent damage estimates from the state are up to $470 million over 30 counties.

County estimates include $5.5 million in damage to agriculture, $5 million to roads and $2 million to private property. Meanwhile, the estimate for private property damage recorded in Vernon County by the Federal Emergency Management Agency stood at $4 million on Monday with FEMA inspections still taking place.

Crotsenberg said it is difficult to tell how much of the overall damage has been reported, but he estimated the amount may be only about 20 percent of the total. That would put the total amount of damage approaching $75 million. Crotsenberg said the damage numbers are added as claims are tallied and there is no way to know for sure how many claims will be filed.

Ed Edahl, a public information officer for FEMA based in Madison, said there had been 283 claims for federal aid made by Vernon County residents to FEMA.