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As southeastern Wisconsin reckons with the growing toll of extreme weather events − such as last weekend's 1,000-year flood − the region faces mounting costs to infrastructure, possible displacement, the loss of personal belongings and irreplaceable memories, as well a serious impacts to mental and physical health.

A new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum outlines how Wisconsin has seen an increase in damage caused by flooding, in turn leading to dramatic spikes in flood insurance claims and payouts.

In something of an astonishing fluke of timing, the report was in the works long before this month's flood. That made the conclusions all the more relevant.

Climate change − which is caused by human use of fossil fuels − is warming the planet, allowing it to hold onto more water and leading to supercharged rain events. The devastating impact of these storms will continue to grow with inaction as climate change is warming the planet at a pace faster than ever before.

Floods are Wisconsin’s second-most frequent disaster declaration, resulting in $123.7 million in damages since 1999, the report says.

People need to be ready, whether that means buying flood insurance as individuals or broadly making sure local and state leaders have plans in place to help communities respond and recover more quickly, said Tyler Byrnes, senior research associate at the Wisconsin Policy Forum and author on the report.

Here are four takeaways from the new report.

A dramatic increase in flood damage

There has been a massive jump in Wisconsin flood damage in the last three decades, according to the new report. There has also been a series of massive flood events — in 1997, 1998, 2008, 2010 and 2018 — leading to spikes in claims that totaled nearly $114 million in damages. The largest was after a 2008 record rain event when 12 inches of rain fell over the course of two days in southern Wisconsin, which led to $49.0 million in damages claimed.

The most recent in 2018 led to $24 million in damages, most within Dane and Sauk counties.

And although this month's flood wasn't part of the report, based on the data, Byrnes estimates that the Aug. 9 and 10 flood event will likely be one of the highest set of claims Wisconsin has ever seen.

Current projections show that over the next 20 years, most of the state will have a higher likelihood of heavy rains and, presumably floods, increasing the chance for spikes in property damage.

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