Politics

Snyder Asks Feds For Disaster Relief, Says Flood Caused $1.1 Billion In Damages

September 18, 2014, 6:53 AM

The devastating flood in metro Detroit on Aug. 11 caused $1.1 billion in damages and significantly flooded 118,000 homes and businesses in the region, according to a letter sent by Gov. Rick Snyder in asking President Barack Obama to give the region a presidential declaration of disaster, Kathleen Gray reports in the Free Press.

The 10-page letter, which the Free Press obtained Wednesday night, detailed the destruction from the flood, including 23,000 homes in Warren, 7,600 in Dearborn, and 7% of the housing stock in Detroit; 243 were verified as destroyed; 80% of the homes that were damaged in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties had owners with no insurance to pay for the costs, and many live near or below the poverty level.

The state is unable to help pay for the losses, Snyder said, especially since it had to deal with two other natural disasters in the previous year – severe flooding in and around Grand Rapids last year and a deep freeze in northern Michigan this past winter.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will evaluate the request and make a recommendation, a process that should happen quickly, said Sandy Jesmund, of FEMA's Chicago office.


Read more:  Detroit Free Press


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