July 10, 2017-
The purpose of the Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA):
Midland County is working with the Michigan State Police, FEMA and Small Business Administration to assess the damage from the June 22/23 floods. This information will help the State of Michigan decide whether we have enough damage to ask for federal assistance. We are looking at houses and businesses, but since we have already gathered a lot of this information, we don’t need to visit everyone.
If we do come out to you, we’ll ask about how you were impacted and what you need to recover. We don’t need to see everything right now though, because if there is a declaration, FEMA or SBA will send out an inspector who will do a more thorough inspection.
What residents and businesses need to do:
Please don’t wait to start the clean-up. While you do, make sure you take pictures and keep receipts which will help determine if you are eligible for federal assistance if there is a declaration. If you still need help cleaning up, call 2-1-1 and we will try to connect you with help that is available.
What’s next?
The State is currently completing their final report that will be sent to the Governor for review. If the Governor determines that there is enough information to request federal assistance, the Governor will request a Presidential Declaration. The same will be done at the federal level.
If there is a federal disaster, FEMA may offer grants and SBA may offer very low-interest loans to help people recover. Once these determinations have been announced, the State and County will be passing along the information to the residents of when, where, and how to apply for any programs that are made available.
