After the storm system had passed through and the tornado had left the residence of Ladysmith faced the daunting task of cleaning up the destruction left by the tornado. Over the next three days Ladysmith would have over 1,800 volunteers offer to help clean up the city. Along with volunteers the Governor also sent 32 National Guard members to assist in the clean up effort along with the State Patrol and other area law enforcement agencies to assist in traffic direction, the 8 p.m. curfew and to help police the damaged area. Besides the city being cleaned up the rural areas also needed volunteers to help clean up the fields so that they could continue harvesting the crops. The local electrical company, Xcel Energy, was also called in to help restore power to the residence and to clean up down power lines. The city also had to have all of the gas lines in the city shut off to prevent any explosions due to ruptured gas lines.
Besides volunteers coming together to aid in the cleanup effort the cities businesses and outsiders also got involved by either donating items or money to the residence. One local business, Weather Shield, who employs over 500 people in the town obtained food and water that was given to the residence and volunteers. Some of the other businesses that got involved in the clean up were Home Depot, who donated equipment and labor. Miller Bottling Company, Kraft and Wal-Mart each donated bottled water or food to the city and it volunteers. Even Millis Transfer, a trucking company in Wisconsin volunteered the use of its trucks to ship supplies to the city.
In addition to sending the National Guard in to assist, Governor Scott McCallum also visited the area and began efforts to get the area state and federal money to help with the rebuilding process. The Governor secured $35,000 housing grants to those who homes had been destroyed by the tornado. He also got money through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to give $1.5 million dollars to help people rebuild their homes and $1 million dollars to loan to businesses at a low finance rate to help them get back on their feet.
On September 6, 2002 Governor Scott McCallum sent a request to President George W. Bush through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) asking for federal aid for the people of Ladysmith and the surrounding areas that were affected by the Labor Day storms. In the letter the Governor outlined the events that transpired on September 2nd in Wisconsin along with the type of damage and its severity on the communities affected. He outlines the efforts by the state as mentioned above to provide aid in the form of grants and loans to the residents and businesses affected by the storms. He goes on to outline the efforts of the city, county and state organizations such as law enforcements and road crew’s efforts to help get Ladysmith back up and running. He also included the demographics, population and average income of the residents in the affected area. At the end of the request for aid the Governor included an Impact Statement, which he stressed the importance of the money to get the few businesses the city had back on their feet in order to keep the community afloat. The Governor also touches on the fact that although the state is providing some aid for the destruction due to the budget problems of 2002 the state cannot afford to pay for the damage any more than the community could. He emphasized this by further listing the recent disasters the state has had to deal with including the Flooding in the spring of 2001 and in 2002 for severe weather and snow damages.
In response to Governor Scott McCallum’s request, President Bush declared 19 of Wisconsin’s Counties as federal disaster areas. The counties covered in this declaration are, Barron, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Polk, Portage, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Shawano, St. Croix, Taylor, Washburn, Waupaca and Wood. This enabled FEMA to get money to the area through grants and low interest loans, which was used to help both residents and businesses, get back on their feet. FEMA will also pick up the expensive cost of cleanup to the area, which until then the state had been covering.
For a complete copy of the disaster aid request letter to the president email barnieja@uwec.edu