Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday issued a state of declaration of disaster for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties in the wake of severe flood damage.
The declaration helps open the door for possible federal emergency aid.
“The flooding that continues to impact Southeastern Michigan is a disaster in every sense of the word," Snyder said. " As local and state authorities work around the clock to deal with this situation, it is clear that the significant personal property and infrastructure damage, coupled with ongoing threats to public safety, warrants this state declaration. By taking this action, the state can fully coordinate and maximize efforts to support its local partners.
“I’m proud of our communities and residents throughout the region for pulling together in the face of these challenges. Please remember that safety must be our top priority, so I encourage everyone to exercise great caution as the cleanup continues.”
Earlier in the day, before Snyder's declaration, Mark Schauer, the Democratic candidate for governor, said he didn't think Gov. Rick Snyder was doing enough to deal with the aftermath of the flood in Metro Detroit.
Kathleen Gray of the Free Press reported that Schauer thought Snyder should declare a state of emergency immediately to open the door for potential federal dollars.
Schauer, the Democratic candidate for governor, said this morning, that’s not good enough.
“Michigan motorists, homeowners and businesses need swift action to repair the damage from this week’s historic floods,” he said in a statement released this morning, according to the Freep.""The response by our local first responders and state troopers has been truly admirable, but now it is time for the State of Michigan to declare a state of emergency and immediately request federal disaster assistance.”
Snyder had said the state wanted to further assess the situation before making a disaster declaration, the Freep reports. He said the the Michigan State Police and Michigan Department of Transportation are offering services to clean up the immediate mess.
Separately, in a radio interview Wednesday with WJR host Frank Beckmann, the governor tried to show empathy with storm victims by saying his family residence had a sloshy basement several times in the past due to weather. But he committed a politically tone-deaf stumble by adding this, as quoted by Eric Lacy of MLive:
"I've been through a lot of things like that, Frank," Snyder said. "We just recently had holes in our roof from storm damage to our lake house.
"We have a vacation place and we had a limb come down on the roof and had water running through the whole place."
The Michigan Democratic Party pounced quickly. Joshua Pugh, communications director, tweets:
Hey Michigan, Rick Snyder feels your pain. One time he had to fix the roof on his vacation home. http://t.co/dLfcTrCPYR
— Joshua Pugh (@JPughMI) August 13, 2014
