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The July 27 tornado changed the landscape for businesses across the Fox Valley – literally and figuratively.
In the weeks since, business owners have been navigating a long list of questions:
- How do we rebuild?
- What will insurance cover?
- How do we manage employees?
- What happens to cash flow?
- How do we finance repairs?
- How do we make sound decisions when so much is still uncertain?
There is no single roadmap for recovery.
That’s why The Business News is bringing together experts from across the business community to offer practical guidance on the issues owners are facing now – and the decisions that can shape the months ahead.
Through this roundtable of columns, professionals in tax and accounting, employment law, construction, insurance, banking and leadership share their expertise on everything from documenting losses and navigating insurance claims to rebuilding facilities, managing finances, supporting employees and leading through uncertainty.
The goal isn’t to tell businesses exactly what to do.
It’s to provide useful perspective, raise questions worth asking and connect business owners with the information and expertise they may need as they rebuild.
Recovery will look different for every business.
But no business owner has to navigate it alone.
When storms affect local businesses and neighbors, the focus is on helping those affected recover, with our claims representatives working directly with insureds to help them get back on their feet.
For businesses that avoided this storm, this event should be viewed as a near miss and taken as an opportunity to prepare before the next storm arrives.
Severe weather is not a rare occurrence, and according to data from the National Center for Environmental Information, it’s becoming more frequent and costly.
The best advice we can give is to take the threat seriously now, before damage occurs.
Navigating insurance claims and losses can be made simpler if you do some groundwork ahead.
Act quickly after the storm
The hours immediately following a storm often influence how quickly a business can recover.
Start with safety
Confirm employees, customers and visitors are safe before turning attention to property damage.
Communicate clearly
Employees need to understand work expectations and safety procedures, while customers, vendors and business partners will need updates on operational status.
Report damage promptly
Notify your insurance carrier as soon as damage is discovered.
Early reporting allows the claims process to begin and can help carriers respond and help mitigate further damage during large-scale events.
Prevent further damage
Taking reasonable steps to protect property, such as boarding broken windows, covering damaged roofs, securing equipment or removing standing water, can help limit the severity of the loss while recovery efforts are underway.
This isn’t just good practice.
Your policy includes a duty to protect property from further damage, and those reasonable protective costs are typically reimbursable, so save your receipts.
Collect documentation
Once it’s safe to do so, begin documenting damage immediately:
- Photograph and video damaged property before cleanup starts
- Save receipts for emergency repairs and temporary protective measures
- Track debris removal and recovery-related expenses
- Document lost revenue and additional business expenses if operations are interrupted
One of the most common mistakes is cleaning up or discarding damaged property before it’s documented or inspected.
Photograph everything and, when possible, retain damaged items until your adjuster confirms they’re no longer needed.
Set up your insurance for success
The right insurance company can play a critical role in helping your business recover after a loss, but that support starts with having the right coverage in place.
An independent insurance agent can help evaluate your business’s specific risks and identify potential coverage gaps.
Though every operation is different, business owners should consider reviewing several key areas before severe weather hits:
Property coverage
Property coverage helps repair or replace buildings, equipment, inventory and other physical assets damaged by covered events.
Know whether your coverage is replacement cost or actual cash value (ACV).
That distinction determines how depreciation is applied and when you receive the full value payment.
Many losses are paid at ACV first, with the remaining replacement-cost amount released after repairs are completed.
Business income coverage
Even when physical damage can be repaired, lost revenue can have lasting consequences.
Business income coverage can help replace income when a covered loss forces a business to temporarily suspend or reduce operations.
Keep in mind the coverage trigger: there must be direct physical damage from a covered cause of loss that suspends your operations.
A precautionary closure with no physical damage generally won’t qualify.
Extra expense coverage
Extra expense coverage may help cover temporary locations, equipment rentals, expedited shipping or other expenses necessary to keep the business operating during the recovery process.
Unlike business income, extra expense coverage generally begins immediately following a covered loss.
Water and flood coverage
Many business owners assume water damage is covered under a standard property policy, but flood damage is often excluded.
Separate flood coverage and sewer backup endorsements are worth discussing with your agent.
Because flood coverage often includes a waiting period, it’s important to plan ahead.
However, coverage is only part of the equation.
During a widespread weather event, the quality of your insurer’s claims service becomes especially important.
Evaluate claims service before you need it
Not all insurance companies are the same.
You can improve your likelihood of having a positive claims experience by choosing a carrier that makes claims a priority.
A few ways to gauge how a carrier handles its claims are AM Best financial-strength ratings and the NAIC Complaint Index.
Your independent agent can also share first-hand claims experiences.
Financial strength matters
A financially stable insurer can continue paying claims and serving policyholders even when a widespread weather event generates significant losses across a region.
When comparing insurance providers, it’s worth looking beyond price to factors that signal long-term reliability, including financial strength, claims-paying ability and consistency through challenging market conditions.
Reduce the risks you can control
Though no business can prevent every storm-related loss, many can be reduced through proactive planning and routine maintenance.
Protect your property
Regularly inspect roofs, gutters, drainage systems, windows and exterior doors for vulnerabilities.
Trim trees near buildings, secure outdoor equipment and test backup power systems before they’re needed.
Businesses should also evaluate whether critical equipment, inventory, records or technology are stored in areas vulnerable to water intrusion.
Prepare your people
Employees play a critical role in business continuity.
Clear emergency procedures, communication protocols, evacuation plans and assigned responsibilities can help employees respond confidently.
Plan for disruption
Consider how you would communicate closures, remote work expectations, customer updates and operational changes if a storm impacted your business tomorrow.
The more clearly these plans are established in advance, the better positioned a business is to recover quickly.
Prepare your documentation
Consider maintaining:
- Current inventories of equipment, vehicles, technology, tools and inventory, including photographs of key assets
- Serial numbers, receipts and maintenance records
- Secure backups of financial and operational records stored off-site, including profit-and-loss statements, payroll, tax returns and sales records, which are what substantiate a business income claim
Having this information readily available can help establish the condition and value of property before a loss occurs.
– Jenna Waniger, Acuity Insurance
The tornado that moved through July 27 touched every corner of our community.
In the days since, employers have been navigating not only the physical aftermath but also a quieter set of questions about their teams, including:
- What do you pay when the office cannot open?
- What are your obligations when remote work is possible, but the circumstances are anything but normal?
Answers to these questions may not always feel simple, but they are clear.
Below is a practical guide to common wage-and-hour issues faced after a disaster.
Start with classification.
Non-exempt employees are generally paid for hours worked, including overtime, while exempt employees are generally salaried and subject to different pay rules.
This distinction drives many of the scenarios below.
The office is closed
For non-exempt employees, the rule is simple: pay follows hours worked.
If your building is closed and there is no work for them to perform, you generally do not owe wages for that time.
You may allow or require employees to use PTO consistent with your handbook or policy, but paying for non-working time is generally a business decision, not a legal requirement.
Exempt employees are treated differently.
If an exempt employee performs any work during a workweek, the employee is owed the full weekly salary, even if the office is closed for part of the week.
This includes checking email, taking a call or doing a small task.
However, if the office is closed for an entire workweek and employees perform no work, no salary is owed for that week.
Businesses may require exempt employees to use PTO for time not spent working, but they should follow their established policy and apply it consistently.
Employees can file for unemployment while the office is closed.
The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) generally will not deny a claim simply because a business is closed due to a storm.
The employee did not quit and was not discharged for misconduct.
Eligibility turns on the employee’s wages during the base period, whether the employee remains able and available for work, and whether the employee satisfies any applicable work-search requirements.
DWD may waive the work-search requirement for employees who are expected to return to work within a defined period.
One detail matters here.
Wisconsin imposes a one-week waiting period for each new benefit year, so no benefit is paid for that first qualifying week.
Thus, if an office is closed for one week, employees may receive nothing.
If an office is closed for two weeks, the payment may cover only the second week.
If the closure is expected to last beyond this week, affected employees should apply now, as the waiting week does not start until they file.
When work can be done remotely, employers must still follow wage-and-hour rules.
For non-exempt employees, remote work is still work.
Answering the phone, processing an order or replying to a client from a laptop all count as paid time and must be recorded and paid.
Overtime still applies if the employees work more than 40 hours in the workweek.
If non-exempt employees do not typically work remotely, businesses need to provide them a method to track and submit their time.
For exempt employees, remote work is usually just working from a different location.
Their pay does not change simply because the work is remote.
The real questions are whether the job can actually be done from home and whether the employee has the tools needed to do it.
If there is not enough work available, businesses may require the employee to use PTO, again consistent with their handbook or PTO policy.
Employees cannot report to work
Sometimes the office is open, or remote work is available, but an employee’s own circumstances prevent them from working.
They may be repairing damage to their homes, finding temporary housing, dealing with transportation issues or caring for children because daycare is closed.
For non-exempt employees, the answer holds steady: pay still follows hours worked.
No work, no wages owed.
PTO can be used to cover the missed time if a business’s policy permits it.
For exempt employees, the answer depends on why the employee is absent.
When the business is open and work is available, but the employee cannot work for personal reasons, the Department of Labor treats it as a personal absence rather than a lack of available work.
A full-day absence for personal reasons may be deducted from salary without jeopardizing the exemption, as long as no work is performed that day.
Partial-day salary deductions are not allowed.
Businesses may also require PTO to cover the missed time if their policy permits it.
Beyond what the law requires
These rules reflect federal and Wisconsin law.
If employees work in other states, those state laws should be reviewed as well.
These rules are the floor, not the ceiling.
Employers may choose to do more than the law requires.
Allowing PTO is often the easiest option, but it should be applied consistently.
If an exception is being made to the handbook or PTO policy, be clear that it is a one-time exception for this situation, not a permanent policy change.
A PTO donation policy may allow employees to share accrued time with coworkers, but these programs should be structured carefully to avoid tax issues.
If an Employee Assistance Program is available, this is a good time to remind employees of the resource.
Employers may also want to share community resources, such as United Way’s 211 phone service or websites offering disaster recovery, shelter and financial assistance.
A final note
A storm hands employers more than enough to manage.
Pay questions, employee absences, remote work and temporary closures pile on at the very moment everyone is already focused on safety and cleanup.
When wage-and-hour issues are handled with clear rules and consistent policies, employers can focus their energy on what matters most: being there for their people as they get back on their feet.
– Rebecca Kellner, McCarty Law
In all my years as a banker in Northeast Wisconsin, I have never seen anything like what happened here on July 27.
The EF-3 tornado that tore through Appleton, Menasha, Neenah and Fox Crossing left a 12-mile path of destruction – homes gutted, businesses damaged or destroyed, employees displaced.
Many of you reading this were affected directly, or you know someone who was.
Like everyone else in this community, my first instinct has been to show up, help where I can and be patient.
But once the immediate emergency passes, business owners are left with a harder question – how do we rebuild, and how do we pay for it?
That’s the conversation I want to have here – one focused on cash flow, bridge financing, SBA disaster loans and refinancing.
Start with cash flow, not the biggest number
Before chasing a big loan, take stock of what’s coming in and going out over the next 90 days.
Talk to your insurance adjuster early and often.
Talk to your landlord about near-term flexibility.
And talk to your lender before you’re in a bind, not after – most banks and credit unions can help you build a realistic short-term cash flow picture, and that picture should drive every financing decision that follows, not the other way around.
Bridge financing can buy you time
Insurance and SBA disaster loans both take time to fund.
A short-term line of credit or bridge loan may be able to cover payroll, rent and vendor payments in the gap between the damage and the settlement.
It’s not meant to be permanent capital – it’s meant to keep the lights on while the bigger pieces fall into place.
If you’re waiting on an insurance payout or a disaster loan disbursement, it’s worth asking your financial institution about options now, rather than waiting until cash gets tight.
SBA disaster loans – what they are, how they work
This is a tool built specifically for situations like ours, and it’s worth understanding.
The SBA’s disaster loan program offers low-interest, long-term loans to businesses, private nonprofits, homeowners and renters in a federally declared disaster area:
- Physical Disaster Business Loans – up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged real estate, equipment, inventory and other business assets.
- Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) – for small businesses that suffered financial loss from the disaster, even without physical damage, to help cover operating expenses.
Terms are genuinely favorable: interest rates as low as roughly 4% for businesses, terms up to 30 years and payments typically aren’t due until about a year after the first disbursement.
That built-in deferment is designed for exactly this situation – giving a business time to get back on its feet before debt service starts.
A federal disaster declaration has to be in place before businesses can apply, and that follows a request from the governor’s office.
As of this writing, the state has declared a state of emergency for the Fox Cities tornado, which is typically the first step toward an SBA declaration.
I’d encourage every affected business to watch sba.gov/disaster and the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce’s recovery page closely, and to have financial documentation ready so you can move quickly once the declaration is finalized.
Yes – the SBA allows modifications
I’ve had business owners ask whether existing SBA loans can be adjusted if this disaster affects their ability to pay.
The answer is yes.
Lenders have real discretion to work with borrowers on 7(a) and 504 loans – deferring payments, extending the term to lower monthly payments or restructuring, case by case, when a borrower can show a credible plan to get back on solid footing.
It’s not automatic, and it requires documentation, but it’s available.
The same logic applies to other business debt: if this event has affected your ability to make a payment, reach out to your lender before it becomes a missed payment.
Most are willing to work with you if you come to them early.
Don’t overlook refinancing
For businesses carrying higher-rate debt from equipment or expansion, this may be the right moment to consider refinancing – rolling multiple obligations into a single manageable payment or freeing up collateral to support a disaster loan or bridge facility.
It’s not the first move for everyone, but it belongs on the table as part of a broader recovery plan.
Our commitment
I want to be direct: this is a tough, uncertain time, and no playbook fits every business perfectly.
What I can tell you is that banks and credit unions across this community need to be patient and flexible right now, and most of them will be.
That means picking up the phone before assuming the worst and treating every situation as the individual case it is.
If your business was affected by the tornado, don’t wait to have that conversation with your banker.
It’s easier to plan from a position of information than to react from a position of crisis – and the sooner that conversation happens, the more options you’ll have.
– Paul Northway, American National Bank
July 27th will be remembered in the Fox Valley for a long time.
For many businesses and families across the Fox Valley, what comes next is still very much in progress.
For many, the workday hasn’t stopped, even as life outside of work has been upended. Businesses are finding ways to support their employees and keep moving forward, opening their doors when their people need a place to go.
And behind the day-to-day responsibilities are emotions that can be difficult to process – grief, worry, uncertainty, gratitude, exhaustion and resilience, sometimes all at once.
In an acute crisis, the instinct is often to focus on the practical.
Get the insurance adjuster on the phone.
Assess the damage.
Make the list.
Keep moving.
There’s real wisdom in that.
Doing something, anything, can create a sense of control when everything feels out of control.
It helps.
Leadership can be difficult while carrying the weight of a crisis personally.
Both things can be true at once.
A leader can hold a team together while also feeling the weight of a tragedy that has brought unexpected emotions and uncertainty.
This isn’t leadership as usual, and pretending it is doesn’t make anyone stronger.
It only makes the experience lonelier.
It isn’t about being strong.
It’s about being real enough that your team believes you are doing the best you can in difficult circumstances.
What’s actually happening inside you right now
In the early afternoon of July 27, many people flooded with adrenaline and cortisol – exactly what was needed in that moment
Alertness increased.
Reaction time quickened.
The body shifted into action.
That response wasn’t a failure or an overreaction.
It was the body doing exactly what it was designed to do.
In the weeks that follow, versions of that response are still happening.
Every difficult conversation, every insurance call, every decision made with incomplete information sends another small spurt.
That physiological response takes about 90 seconds to move through your body each time.
Now that the region is doing the work needed to restore itself, those spurts of adrenaline and cortisol can add to the drain on your energy and focus.
Maybe not as intense on that day, but those smaller spurts have an impact, too.
There is no need to suppress it.
The first step is simply recognizing it is there.
Three things that can help right now
1. Name what you’re feeling before you act on it
Not out loud necessarily – just internally.
- Am I scared?
- Angry?
- Overwhelmed?
- Exhausted?
Naming it accurately, even privately, creates just enough distance between the feeling and the action to make a better decision.
This isn’t therapy.
This is practical.
A named emotion is information.
An unnamed emotion risks running the show instead of you.
2. Let your team see you being human without losing your footing
There’s a difference between being honest and being destabilizing.
Your team doesn’t need you to pretend everything is fine.
They can see it isn’t.
What they need is to know that you can hold steady while things are hard.
That means you can say this is a difficult situation and we’re going to work through it together without falling apart in the process.
Steadiness isn’t the absence of emotion.
It’s showing up consistently enough that your team believes you are doing your best.
Because you are – even if it’s messy getting there.
3. Acknowledge and validate before you problem solve
When a team member shares what they’re going through, try two steps before moving to solutions.
First acknowledge what they said.
Reflect it back simply:
“So you’re dealing with damage at home and trying to show up here at the same time – that’s a lot.”
Then validate that what they’re feeling makes complete sense.
“Of course you’re exhausted. Anyone would be.”
That’s it.
No fixing required.
No advice unless they ask.
Just acknowledgement and validation.
It sounds simple, and it is.
And in an acute situation, it’s often the most useful thing a leader can offer before anything else.
One more thing
The decisions you’re making are being made under conditions that are genuinely harder than normal:
- Incomplete information
- Physical and emotional exhaustion
- Pressure from multiple directions at once
That’s not an excuse for poor decisions.
It’s the context for why leaders deserve to extend themselves and their team a little more grace than usual while still moving forward.
The Fox Valley community shows up for each other-a real-time example of Midwest Nice.
That matters.
And the steadiness leaders bring to their team, their clients and their own recovery in the weeks ahead will matter just as much as the practical steps.
Leaders don’t have to have it all figured out.
They just have to keep showing up.
– Paula Rauenbuehler, Leading UP, LLC
In the aftermath of a storm, cleanup is immediate: tarps, debris haulers, insurance adjusters.
Just as the physical sites are cleaned up, business owners must rebuild the financial and tax picture.
Early decisions can impact cash flow, tax reporting and insurance recovery.
Understand how a business casualty loss is measured
A tornado may create a deductible casualty loss under Section 165 for business or income-producing property.
The deduction is not simply the repair or replacement cost:
- For a business or income-producing property that is damaged but not completely destroyed, the loss generally is the lesser of adjusted basis or the storm-related decline in fair market value. Insurance and other reimbursements received or reasonably expected reduce the deductible amount.
- For a business or income-producing property that is completely destroyed, the loss is generally measured without comparing post-casualty fair market value. If fair market value immediately before the casualty was less than adjusted basis, adjusted basis is treated as the loss amount. Reimbursement reduces the deductible loss, and salvage value may matter.
- Inventory requires special handling. A business may reflect the loss through cost of goods sold or deduct it separately as a casualty loss, but not both. If deducted separately, the affected inventory must be removed from the cost of goods sold.
Generally, a business cannot consider a loss sustained if it reasonably expects to be reimbursed for that loss.
If the final settlement is lower than expected, the shortfall may become deductible when it is reasonably certain no further reimbursement will be received.
If insurance proceeds exceed adjusted basis, the business may have a taxable casualty gain.
Section 1033 may allow deferral if qualifying replacement property is acquired within the applicable replacement period and other requirements are met.
Similarity or use requirements apply, subject to special disaster-area rules.
The replacement period generally ends two years after the close of the first tax year in which gain is realized.
Business interruption proceeds are treated differently.
Amounts replacing lost profits or business income generally are taxable and do not reduce the property casualty loss.
A federal disaster declaration may create another option.
If the tornado is part of a federally declared disaster and the loss occurred in an area designated for public or individual assistance under the presidential declaration, the taxpayer may be able to elect to take the disaster loss into account in the immediately preceding tax year.
The election must be made no later than six months after the regular due date for the original disaster-year return, determined without extensions.
Reconstruct records while claims are moving
Record reconstruction should proceed alongside claims.
Once conditions are safe:
- Photograph and inventory damaged property before repairs or disposal, subject to the insurer’s instructions.
- Gather tax returns, depreciation schedules, invoices and appraisals to establish an adjusted basis.
- Request replacement records from vendors, banks, payroll providers, lenders, landlords and the tax preparer.
- Record key dates for the storm, claims, inspections, reimbursements and relief applications.
IRS transcripts, financial records, invoices, photographs and videos can help reconstruct destroyed records.
A damaged-property file organized by property, coverage and timeline can support insurance claims, tax reporting and disaster-relief or lender applications.
Track recovery activity separately
Storm-related cash flows can quickly mix with ordinary operations.
A separate class, job, project code or ledger account can keep the event visible:
- Track property-damage insurance separately from business interruption proceeds.
- Track costs separately for emergency stabilization, debris removal, repairs, improvements, replacement assets and temporary facilities.
- Track professional fees separately because their tax treatment may vary and keep grants and loan proceeds separate from expenses.
Bookkeeping labels do not determine tax treatment.
Repair and cleanup costs are not automatically the casualty-loss deduction.
Some expenditures may be currently deductible, while improvements and restorations may need capitalization.
Oftentimes, amounts paid to restore casualty damage must be capitalized rather than deducted currently, particularly when the taxpayer must adjust the property’s basis because of a casualty loss or related insurance reimbursement.
A taxpayer generally cannot both claim a casualty loss and currently deduct the same restoration costs if those costs must be capitalized.
Repair costs may be evidence of the decline in fair market value only if the repairs are actually made, necessary and not excessive, limited to casualty damage and do not increase value above the property’s pre-casualty value.
Using repair costs as evidence does not make the costs themselves the casualty-loss deduction.
Reconcile each reimbursement to the applicable coverage and damaged property rather than treating the settlement as one undifferentiated amount.
Revisit the broader tax plan
The tax benefit may vary with entity structure and owner-level limits, including basis, at-risk and passive activity rules.
A casualty loss may contribute to a net operating loss or affect other tax attributes.
Estimated taxes should be recalculated after deciding when and where to claim the loss.
Moving an eligible disaster loss to the preceding year may generate a refund, but it can increase projected taxable income for the disaster year.
Businesses should review the IRS relief notice for the specific disaster.
Filing and payment deadlines may be postponed, but the scope and duration of relief depend on the applicable declaration, IRS notices and the taxpayer’s circumstances.
Build toward resilience
Recovery is an opportunity to strengthen financial systems.
Useful measures include cloud accounting and off-site backups, an updated fixed-asset listing with photographs and purchase records, periodic reviews of insured values and a written response plan identifying who will contact the insurer, lender, accountant, payroll provider and key vendors.
Clean records, clear responsibilities and early coordination make it easier to quantify damage, preserve available relief and rebuild with fewer financial surprises.
– Sean Bailey, Vesta CPA
This article provides general federal tax and accounting information, not advice for any business’s circumstances. Eligibility for disaster-related elections, deadline postponements and other relief depends on the applicable disaster declaration, IRS notices and the taxpayer’s facts. State and local tax treatment may differ.
In the aftermath of a tornado, property owners are often faced with a whirlwind of decisions, emotions and uncertainty.
Though the desire to rebuild and return to normal as quickly as possible is understandable, successful recovery requires a structured approach, realistic expectations and close coordination between property owners, insurance providers, contractors and local municipalities.
Often more extensive than what is visible
As a Wisconsin-based design-build contractor, Keller has helped property owners navigate rebuilding and renovation projects following unexpected events.
From our perspective, the rebuilding process starts with one priority above all else: safety.
The first step is assessing the safety of the site and ensuring that no immediate hazards exist.
Tornado-damaged buildings can present significant risks, including unstable structural elements, damaged utilities, debris hazards and compromised access points.
Before anyone begins discussing reconstruction, these safety concerns must be identified and addressed.
Once the site has been stabilized, the next priority is cleanup.
Removing debris and establishing safe access allows contractors, engineers, insurance representatives and property owners to properly evaluate the damage.
Clearing the site may seem like a straightforward task, but it is an essential step that creates the foundation for everything that follows.
It is critical to obtain authorization from your insurance provider before clearing the site.
This allows the insurer to inspect and document the damage, helping to avoid potential disputes or reimbursement issues later in the claims process.
After access has been restored, a detailed structural analysis is conducted to determine what can be repaired and what must be replaced.
Every building is different, and tornado damage is often more extensive than what is visible from the outside.
Structural assessments help identify damage to foundations, framing, roof systems, walls and other critical building components.
The goal is to fully understand the condition of the facility before moving into the design and planning phase.
With a complete assessment in hand, the focus shifts to developing reconstruction plans.
This stage requires balancing two important considerations: what the property owner needs to restore the facility and what the insurance policy will cover.
In many cases, finding the right solution involves collaboration between the owner, contractor, engineers and insurance representatives.
The objective is to create a rebuilding plan that meets operational needs while remaining financially feasible.
Expedited approval process
One encouraging development for affected property owners has been the responsiveness of local municipalities.
For instance, the City of Menasha has indicated that reconstruction plans related to storm damage can move through an expedited approval process, with reviews occurring in as little as three days.
This type of partnership between local government and the construction industry can significantly accelerate the front end of the rebuilding effort.
After plans have been approved and all parties agree on the scope of reconstruction, materials can be ordered and construction can begin.
Rebuild timeline
Though the planning and permitting stages may be accelerated following a disaster, property owners should understand the actual rebuilding process often follows a timeline similar to that of a new construction project.
Rebuilding a damaged facility still requires the same sequence of work, inspections, coordination among trades and quality control measures necessary to deliver a safe and durable structure.
Material availability can also influence schedules.
Following a major storm event, demand for certain products frequently increases, creating pressure on regional supply chains.
Depending on the type of building being reconstructed, long-lead items can become a significant scheduling factor.
For example, precast concrete components, custom building systems, specialized mechanical equipment and certain structural materials may require extended manufacturing and delivery times.
These factors are often outside the control of both the owner and contractor but must be accounted for when establishing project schedules.
Be realistic
One of the most important things property owners can do during recovery is maintain realistic expectations.
Though emergency cleanup, planning and permitting can often be expedited, reconstruction itself cannot always be accelerated to the same degree.
Quality construction takes time, and rebuilding commercial facilities, industrial buildings and larger structures typically requires several months from design through completion.
Choosing experienced, reputable contractors is also critical.
The right contractor brings not only construction expertise but also guidance throughout the insurance, planning, permitting and rebuilding process.
Clear communication and careful planning help reduce surprises and keep projects moving forward as efficiently as possible.
The good news is that communities across Northeast Wisconsin have a strong history of coming together during challenging times.
Contractors, municipal officials, engineers, suppliers and property owners all play a role in the recovery effort.
By prioritizing safety, following a disciplined planning process and setting realistic expectations, rebuilding can proceed efficiently and result in facilities that are ready to serve their owners and communities for years to come.
Though every project is unique, the overall message remains the same: we can accelerate planning and permitting, but rebuilding takes time.
With patience, coordination and the right team in place, recovery is not only possible – it’s an opportunity to rebuild stronger than before.
– Jesse Hall, Keller, Inc.
