MILWAUKEE — Joyce Collins and her husband, Charles, say the past two weeks have been nothing but frustration.
Their Vogel Park home on Milwaukee’s northwest side flooded during April’s record‑setting rainfall.
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“We’re frustrated. We’re trying to find out where we go from here,” Collins said Wednesday. “We’ve been calling the city trying to find out what we do.”
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The mid‑April storm dumped more than seven inches of rain in just five days — setting a new monthly record before the month was even over.
Streets in Collins’ neighborhood flooded quickly, with water rushing toward the storm drains in front of her home. She says those drains often clog with leaves and debris, forcing water onto her property.
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“It’s just super frustrating, so now we’re trying to deal with all that,” she said, adding that her insurance company denied coverage this time because the water entered through “windows and walls.”
On Wednesday, Milwaukee’s Public Works Committee spent more than two hours unpacking the April flooding and what can be done to reduce damage in future storms. Milwaukee Department of Public Works leaders and representatives from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District laid out a series of proposals and planned projects, some of which they say they will accelerate.
Among the projects MMSD says it will fast‑track are large flood‑control basins at 35th Street and Jackson Park, along with flood retrofit work at Wilson Park and plans to connect the Alro Steel Basin.
MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer said the Jackson Park project will be “recarved” to hold more water while enhancing recreational features and will go out for bid about a year from now. These projects have been in the long‑term capital plan, but recent storms have added urgency to the timeline.
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On the DPW side, leaders outlined two major operational changes under development: requiring residents to bag their leaves instead of raking them into the street — intended to help keep storm drains clear — and scheduling designated street‑sweeping days in “exception parking” areas where cars are allowed to park on both sides of the street year‑round. New signage and towing enforcement would be part of the sweeping plan.
The newly formed City‑County Flood Mitigation Task Force will also work to identify and prioritize so‑called “hot spots” — frequently flooded locations — for targeted fixes. Alders and residents have pushed for those lists to be made public.
For Collins, those proposals could help, but fall far short of what’s needed.
“Not very confident at all, because sweeping the streets and bagging leaves is one thing,” she said. “But you have to look at the infrastructure, because that’s where the problems are.”
Collins believes flooding in her area worsened after new sewer pipes were installed several years ago. “We’ve been here for 25 years, and we had flooding just once, back in 2008,” she said. “Since they put in these pipes, we’ve flooded twice. I think they need to get an engineer to come in and do a study on why there’s so much more flooding now.”
MMSD and DPW officials emphasized that no system can completely prevent flooding in storms of this magnitude. As Shafer put it, “No system in the country can handle 7 to 15 inches of rain in that short a time.”
Still, Collins says she’s looking for more than that explanation: guidance, inspections, and a clear path to help for families already struggling with repairs.
“They need to give us a list, some direction,” she said. “Somebody to come in and inspect our property to find out if we qualify for any kind of help. Because the city isn’t giving us anything.”
Collins says until the city tackles the root issues underground — and not just what residents can do on the surface — she fears her frustrations will keep boiling over every time it rains.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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