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Grand Rapids mayor, city manager, respond to State of Emergency

Posted at 9:33 PM, Feb 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-11 04:49:37-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich-- Grand Rapids Mayor Rosaylnn Bliss says the State of Emergency declared in the city by Governor Whitmer is a necessary step to start clean up before more bad winter weather could hit the area.

“We just don’t have the capacity to meet the need,” Bliss said.

City Manager Mark Washington adding, that crews could keep up with cleaning debris and other storm damage, but the repairs would take as many as 16 to 18 weeks to complete.

“Our crews were working around the clock. We looked at the work orders and the back-log we had. We saw we needed at least triple the size of resources we had,” Washington said.

The extensive resources are needed to ensure the city is back in good shape for those winter weather advisories going into affect over the next few days.

The extent and cost estimates for the repairs aren't known at this time, but the city says they intend to take full advantage of this week's worth of help from state officials to get things back up and running.