Dear Mr. President:
Thank you again for your swift approval of Michigan’s Major Disaster declaration for the storms on June 25-26, 2021-and thank you for your approval of Michigan’s appeal to activate Individual Assistance in additional counties. However, we were deeply disappointed to see the denial of Governor Whitmer’s request to amend Major Disaster declaration FEMA-4607-DR to activate Public Assistance in Ionia, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties. We write in support of Michigan’s appeal of this denial and request a reconsideration of your decision.
At the time of the amended request, the documented preliminary damage assessments in the requested counties did not fully account for the scope of damages. Updated damage assessments verified $26,634,549 in total eligible costs-an additional $12,128,069 in damages compared to previous estimates. The updated assessments found a statewide per-capita loss of $2.69, which significantly exceeds the $1.55 per-capita impact indicator threshold for activation of the Public Assistance program.
Additionally, impacted jurisdictions estimate that local costs for emergency response and repairs to public facilities and infrastructure exceed $120 million. While only a fraction of these costs will likely be eligible for reimbursement under the Public Assistance program, these estimates demonstrate the damage done to these communities. Moreover, these areas experienced extreme localized impacts, with Ionia County’s per capita loss reaching $10.54 and Wayne County’s reaching $14.18. Over the past year, Michigan has responded to an unprecedented number of disasters and emergencies, with the Governor declaring five additional state of emergencies in the weeks after the June flooding, and a total of six state declarations within a 10 week span over the summer.
We commend all the great work of federal, state, and local officials in providing much needed assistance to date. However, communities affected by the flood are still trying to recover and need additional federal resources to do so. We urge you to accept the Governor’s appeal and provide this assistance so Michigan can recover from these devastating storms. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
