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Gov. Whitmer Declares State of Emergency for City of Grand Rapids

Posted at 9:05 PM, Feb 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-10 13:12:15-05

LANSING, Mich. — The Governor has declared a state of emergency for the City of Grand Rapids. The city requested assistance due to widespread outages, dangerous driving conditions, and many potential areas for flooding.

“Our first responders and volunteer services continue to work diligently to protect public health and safety, while utility workers continue efforts to restore power to the residents of Grand Rapids and I thank all of them for their work,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a press release. “This declaration will ensure state assistance is available to help the community with recovery efforts.”

The declaration makes all state resources available for the city for response and recovery efforts and follows the city’s own declaration of a local state of emergency. Local officials have recognized that their resources were insufficient to handle the situation, and the help will lessen the burden on local authorities, while helping protect the health and safety of residents.

On Sunday afternoon, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss and City Manager Mark Washington spoke with FOX 17 about Whitmer’s declaration. Their remarks can be seen on FOX 17 News at 10 and 11 Sunday night.

The entire executive order from Governor Whitmer can be found here.