The city of Milwaukee is certainly doing its part to ensure it’s improving its ability to handle flooding and other water damage necessitating cleanup. From erecting more advanced water damage-resilient infrastructure to planting more water absorbent vegetation locally, Milwaukee and its residents have been smartly preparing the city for defense against Mother Nature over the past few years. One of the best forms of preparation and defense is knowledge. Participating in local projects is wonderful, but it’s important to understand why the projects need to take place. So just what are floods, and how do they affect the city of Milwaukee?
A flood is an overflowing body of water from its original confines. A natural flood most often occurs around streams, rivers, lakes, and all bodies of water. Here in Milwaukee, excess water can also come from snow melt or rainfall during the spring, leading to storm surges. It should be noted, however, that the time of year in which storms are more prevalent is changing. While springtime still sees a decent amount of moisture, hard, fast thunderstorms are beginning to popularize themselves during the summer months, of which we are fast approaching. The propensity for heavy storms are higher in Milwaukee than even cities directly north, south, and west. Storm surges can accumulate and overflow onto banks and floodplains, or lowlands near bodies of water. Milwaukee residents are relatively near the Milwaukee River, the Menomonee River, and the Kinnickinnic River. In non-residential areas, floods cause comparatively less damage. The real danger lies in populated areas, where the potential water damage causes property, the residential environment, and lives to be in jeopardy. However, Milwaukee specifically can also suffer from what is called the “urban heat island effect”. The urban heat island effect is when urban areas are much warmer than nearby rural areas, and Milwaukee isn’t urbanized to the point that the amount of pavement and water-absorbent structural materials has enough of an impact during a flood, compared to its surrounding cities. There seems to be a correlation between the urban heat island effect and the lakes that perpetuate the storms forming over the city. Lack of absorption opportunity leads to a higher likelihood of water damage.
Luckily, local preventative efforts have been underway to decrease water damage to the city that may require significant cleanup. Since 2008, over 270 projects have been initiated to absorb and slow the spread of storm water throughout the town. Green infrastructure, which is a water management process that includes planting trees, restoring wetlands, or other attempts to reflect the natural water cycle, is being implemented throughout the city. Other activities, such as river restoration projects, are invaluable undertakings. However, regardless of how many new projects are executed within the next few years, natural disasters still have a way of infiltrating your life. Floods will still happen in Milwaukee, but it’s best to prevent as much water damage as possible. However, when water damage does occur in your Milwaukee home, be sure to contact your local water damage cleanup company, to ease the cleanup process for yourself.
RestoreMore is a water damage cleanup service company located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since 2015, this professional team has offered qualified, certified and customer-centric team members to most of Southeast Wisconsin. The Milwaukee-local company also strives to prevent future home water damage in your personal residence, as well as educate you on proactive measures you can take to keep your home safe. It offers emergency assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and service Racine, Kenosha, Oak Creek, Franklin, Milwaukee, and Waukesha. Educating yourself on flood damage potential in your Milwaukee home is important, but knowing what company to call when flood damage actually happens to you is even more important. RestoreMore is that company.