July 21, 2017 - Midland County is hopeful that today’s announcement from Governor Rick Snyder, which requested that President Donald Trump declare a major disaster for the State of Michigan following June’s severe flooding event, will result in federal aid to assist local residents in flood recovery efforts and costs.
Governor Snyder has requested supplementary federal aid in the form of Individual Assistance to help eligible residents because of the severity and magnitude of the flooding.
If federal aid is granted, assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help people and businesses recover from the effects of the flooding. This request does not include assistance for costs incurred by state and local governments due to damage to public facilities and infrastructures.
“We are hopeful that individual households will be able to benefit from the funding request and that it will ease the burdens they have had to undertake as a result of flooding,” said Midland County Emergency Management Coordinator Jenifier Boyer, who also added that local governments were “disappointed that the request did not include assistance for costs incurred by state and local governments. Combined, the City’s and County’s costs for responding to this emergency and repairing local infrastructure could reach into the millions.” Boyer noted that, without assistance, the two government entities’ budgets will have to find a way to absorb these costs.
Boyer is hopeful that community leaders will continue to work with the State to identifying any assistance programs that could be made available to help offset costs to infrastructure repairs.