Disaster Relief Sent to Milwaukee After Flooding

August 22, 2025 Newsletter

On August 9-10, severe flash flooding impacted the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and its surrounding area. A storm brought more than 9 inches of rain within 24 hours, a rare event for this part of the country. 

Sewer systems were overwhelmed, and many basements flooded as the rain continued to fall. Because of the level of damage in so many communities, Milwaukee County declared a state of emergency.

Last week, just days after the floods came, Midwest Mission was contacted by the Wisconsin Annual Conference’s Disaster Response Coordinator. They were hoping Midwest Mission had disaster relief that could be sent to Milwaukee — and we definitely did. Because of your generosity, Midwest Mission is able to pre-stage disaster relief supplies on our shelves, so that when a disaster happens, we are ready to quickly respond. 

On Monday, August 18th, Ramon Ortiz, Operations Manager, drove a semi-truck full of disaster relief to the Salvation Army in Milwaukee. He delivered 1,344 Hygiene Kits that will bless families that have been displaced from their homes, or who have lost everything. He also delivered 864 Cleaning Kits that will help people begin to clean out affected and damaged homes. 

While there, Ramon was able to talk with Benny Benedict, the Director for Emergency Disaster Services for the Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Division.

Benny shared, “The preliminary numbers coming in were worse than expected — I can’t share the specific numbers because they aren’t yet confirmed, but we are talking about thousands of people who have major impacts on households. The need is great, and we’ve been working with assessment teams. The biggest request we have is for the Cleaning Kits.”

The Salvation Army isn’t just concerned with the physical well-being of Milwaukee residents, but their mental and spiritual condition as well. Benny continued, “We have been out there with our chaplains doing some emotional and spiritual care. This is pretty hard on people. It’s pretty devastating out there — worse than we’ve ever imagined. It’s not just a wet basement. We are remaining resolute to continue helping people, and working with partners (like Midwest Mission) to meet needs.”