Where do you put a thousand-year flood?

In Milwaukee, every flush and drain leads to Kevin Shafer. As the executive director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, he manages a system where extreme weather can force difficult choices between river releases and flooded basements. When a thousand-year storm overwhelmed the system in August 2025, Shafer faced an important decision. This story was made in partnership with the Points North Podcast at Interlochen Public Radio. #GreatLakes #LakeMichigan #Flood #Weather #Rain #Infrastructure =========================================== Website: https://greatlakesnow.org Facebook:   / greatlakesnow   X: https://www.x.com/greatlakesnow Instagram:   / greatlakesnoworg   Newsletter: https://www.greatlakesnow.org/great-l... To learn more about supporting Detroit PBS and Great Lakes Now, visit https://www.detroitpbs.org/ =========================================== END CREDITS: “Where do you put a thousand-year flood?” was produced by Great Lakes Now/Detroit PBS in partnership with Interlochen Public Radio. Produced and Written by Dan Wanschura Rob Green Narrated by Dan Wanschura Edited by Jordan Wingrove Camera Dusan Harminc Nick Loud Additional Material Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District TMJ4 News WISN 12 News FOX6 News CBS 58 Nicki Cheever 4Jay Films Corey Hafemeister Barbara Jayne Dawn Perry Troy Vosseller U.S. National Archives PBS Wisconsin Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration