Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Saturday announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has granted the governor’s request to expand the Major Disaster Declaration to include households in Macomb and Oakland counties following heavy rainfall and flooding across southeast Michigan in late June.
FEMA’s agreement to expand the disaster declaration follows a letter Whitmer sent to FEMA appealing a previous denial of assistance to the area.
“I want to thank the Biden Administration for their continued partnership in securing additional assistance for Michigan families. FEMA’s decision to grant our request for individual assistance is welcome news for Michiganders in Oakland and Macomb counties who have been impacted by unprecedented flooding this summer,” said Whitmer. “We are going to do everything in our power to ensure that Michiganders get the assistance they need to recover from these storms. And we have an opportunity under the bipartisan infrastructure bill to make long-term upgrades to our infrastructure to ensure that local systems can handle historic rainfall going forward.”
The federal declaration makes households affected by the flooding in Macomb and Oakland counties eligible to apply for individual assistance, such as grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help people and businesses recover.
“We are very thankful the governor pursued the reconsideration on behalf of Macomb County and appreciate that the federal government granted this much-needed support,” said Macomb County Executive Mark A. Hackel.
“I’m grateful for Governor Whitmer’s advocacy in fighting for our residents still struggling with the damage of this summer’s devastating storms,” said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. “As these events continue to increase, it’s helpful to have an ally in Lansing and someone who also understands the importance of infrastructure investments that will help reduce the severity of future storms.”
On June 25 and 26, heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding in southeast Michigan, damaging infrastructure and private property. On June 26, Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Wayne County, later adding Huron, Ionia and Washtenaw counties. By declaring a state of emergency, the governor made available all state resources in cooperation with local response and recovery efforts in the designated area.
On July 13, Whitmer sent a letter to President Biden requesting that he declare an emergency disaster for the state of Michigan. On July 15, President Biden issued a disaster declaration allowing individual assistance for Wayne and Washtenaw counties.
On August 27, Whitmer requested Oakland and Macomb counties be included in that disaster declaration. On September 2, FEMA denied that request. Following the denial, the state conducted an additional joint preliminary damage assessment with federal and local officials to validate the extent of damage to homes across Macomb and Oakland counties.
On September 24, Whitmer sent a letter to FEMA appealing the denial to expand the Major Disaster Declaration in southeast Michigan to include households in Macomb and Oakland counties. Later that same day, FEMA granted the governor’s appeal to provide individual assistance to affected residents in Oakland and Macomb Counties.
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