FOND DU LAC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Federal help could be coming for families affected by last month’s tornado outbreak in Fond du Lac County.
Eleven confirmed twisters tore up homes and damaged businesses. The Hendricks had been living for just a few weeks.
That’s when a tornado sent a tree crashing into their dream home on August 28th.
Dianne Hendricks of Alto tells Fox 11 what it was like to hear nature destroy her home.
“We went down to the basement and we went to the fruit cellar and were there for, I don’t know how long, and all the sudden we could hear this huge boom. And it shook the whole house. It was scary. Really scary.”
On Wednesday, nearly a month later, they shared the details of the storm damage with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
A team from FEMA was making their way through the most heavily damaged parts of Fond du Lac County.
Gerard Hammink is a spokesperson for FEMA.
“It’s part of the evaluation process that the state wants us to do as they consider making the application for a federal disaster declaration.”
Several teams crossing the 17 counties hardest hit by the late-summer flooding and tornadoes will have their data combined into a preliminary damage assessment.
But, the preliminary assessment is not a guarantee that some, or any, of those counties, will be eligible for relief.
As a result Fond du Lac county emergency management’s Bobbi Hicken tells FOX people shouldn’t hold their breath for the disaster declaration.
“If they have repairs that need to be done and they have the resources to do it, they need to do it. Keep receipts, keep pictures. If there is any kind of reimbursement then they can work on that. But this is not the time where the checkbook is coming out or there’s going to be assistance.”
The report and declaration have no official timetable for completion.
FEMA aid or not, Diane Hendricks just wants to move on with their lives and their dream home.
“I hope the house will get back to normal and we can just get our lives back in order again.”
Damage from the tornadoes and flooding this summer is estimated at nearly a quarter billion dollars, statewide.
FEMA’s own assessments will determine when or if that disaster declaration is made.
