There were two episodes of flash flooding in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, area in a one-week period in July 2010.
The first incident occurred in the night on July 15 to July 16. This incident caused basement flooding and some street flooding.
Seven days later on July 22 up to 7.5 inches (190 mm) of rain fell in two hours.[1] This unusually heavy rainfall turned streets and freeways into rivers and impassible ponds.[2][3][4][5] Because of the massive amount of rain in such a short amount of time, it caused sewer backups in many areas of the county. The hardest hit were the Northshore areas of Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Glendale, and North-eastern Milwaukee with water reaching five feet in some areas. The areas had just recovered from the earlier flood and were beginning to resume normalcy. The phrase 'insult to injury' was echoed among many of the TV stations for their plight.[6][7] Other severe floods, causing ditches to flow over and much basement damage, was located in Fox Point.
A Cadillac Escalade SUV was swallowed in large sinkhole many times its size at the intersection of Oakland and North Avenues on Milwaukee's East Side.[8][1]
The severe weather closed Mitchell International Airport, causing a so called rain-in. The runways were flooded with high water grounding local flights, and causing incoming flights to be diverted.[9][1]
The flooding also caused one confirmed death as 19 year old Kyle Prelesnik's body was recovered from Lincoln Creek about eight blocks away from his car which he had been driving in the storm. The cause of the car going into the creek is pending.
It is estimated that the latter storm caused flooding damage of about $37 million. Governor Jim Doyle declared a State of Emergency for Milwaukee County on July 23 as more than ten inches of rain had fallen between the two storms.
In the aftermath of the flooding, the state of Wisconsin requested emergency assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the initial request was rejected because there was not enough damage reported to qualify for assistance. In August, after Governor Doyle appealed the rejection and submitted additional information on damages, the state received a "Public Assistance" declaration that authorized federal aid in connection with flooding and storm damage to public facilities in Milwaukee County and Grant County, Wisconsin, during the period July 20-24. Calumet County was later added to the declaration. In September, President Barack Obama issued an "Individual Assistance declaration" that authorized federal aid for damaged homes and businesses.[10]
Damage from flood waters and backed-up sewage led to a decision in November 2010 to demolish the former St. Michael Hospital, a seven-story 800,000-square-foot (74,000 m2) building that had been largely vacant since the hospital closed in 2006. [11]
