Winnebago County executive outlines flood response: 'We distributed more than 45,000 sandbags'

Winnebago County’s executive reported a coordinated countywide response to recent flooding in the Wolf River watershed, emphasizing emergency management coordination, resident outreach and the start of long-term recovery planning.

The County Executive described actions by emergency management, public health, the sheriff's office and solid waste staff: “We distributed more than 45,000 sandbags, deployed cleanup kits, did outreach, and built a countywide messaging and coordination framework,” the executive said while summarizing the county’s short-term response and ongoing recovery work.

The county’s public-health team provided resident outreach focused on mold, water contamination and cleanup safety, and distributed water-testing kits to returning residents. Solid waste staff arranged special waste hauling, reduced tipping fees under a state disaster declaration and supplied debris-sorting guidance, the executive added.

Winnebago County has been coordinating weekly updates with municipalities and is participating in a tri-county long-term recovery group with Outagamie, Calumet and Waupaca counties to connect residents with unmet needs to resources and case management in the coming weeks.

The executive noted the county overall did not meet the statutory threshold to be eligible for public assistance under federal programs; a request from the governor to the president for a presidential disaster declaration is pending. If approved, such a declaration could unlock individual assistance to property owners and public assistance primarily for municipalities.

Supervisors praised many elements of the response while asking staff to document “lessons learned” so the county can replicate the coordination in future slow-moving or sudden disasters. The board discussed the need for clear after-action reports, earlier municipality briefings and consideration of a regional public information officer to improve consistent messaging.

The executive also flagged longer-term topics linked to flood recovery, including shoreland zoning changes and guidance on repair requirements for flood-damaged homes.

Next steps include continued weekly updates, a post-event evaluation and the launch of the tri-county recovery group’s case management for residents in need.

All direct quotes and program details are drawn from the executive’s report to the board.