Governor Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency for northern Wisconsin due to the damage caused by Sunday’s ice storm.
“As Northern Wisconsin still works to recover from severe weather over the weekend, with more storms on the way tonight, this declaration will help support local efforts to restore power where there are outages, support local efforts to clear debris, set up warming shelters, and respond to local emerging needs, and keep folks, families, and communities safe,” said Gov. Evers in a statement.
The declaration helps ensure state agencies, local partners, utilities, and emergency management officials can continue working together and respond quickly to damage and effects caused by recent severe weather, as well as any anticipated severe weather.
Evers said in a release announcing the declaration that no formal request has come through. Forest County declared an emergency earlier Tuesday.
You can read the executive order here.
As of 8:30 p.m., Wisconsin Public Service showed 16,606 customers without power. Power has been restored to more than 140,000 customers so far.
The restoration effort is expected to be one of the largest in WPS history.
