LANSING, Mich. — Michigan is appealing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) denial to activate the Public Assistance Program for Ionia, Washtenaw and Wayne counties, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Tuesday.
State officials made the request after heavy rains and flooding across southeast Michigan in late June.
“I am going to fight for every available dollar to help communities across Michigan that were impacted by these historic storms,” Whitmer said. “This federal assistance is still critically needed to support the recovery of public entities in Ionia, Wayne and Washtenaw counties. We will continue to work with our federal partners to ensure they get that much-needed assistance.”
Federal and local officials recently completed additional Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments to validate the extent of damage in Ionia, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.
If the Public Assistance Program gets activated, local governments affected by the storms in those counties would be eligible for grants to help pay for response and recovery costs.
Those costs include debris removal, repairing roads, bridges and public buildings and damages to public utilities.
