MIDLAND, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Tuesday $5.5 million in new federal disaster relief awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Midland.
The new Community Development Block Grant Declared Disaster Recovery Fund money is meant to help with the city’s recovery from severe storms and floods in May 2020, as well as help the city’s communities become more resilient to future disasters, a news release said.
“We will work tirelessly to get communities hit hard by natural disasters the help they need to recover and rebuild,” Whitmer said. “I am grateful that our federal partners at the Department of Housing and Urban Development are sending $5.5 million to help Michiganders in Midland rebuild from May 2020’s severe storms and floods. We have a lot of work to do to make lasting investments in our infrastructure to make it more resilient. I know that we can come together to put Michiganders first and get it done.”
Back in May 2020, heavy rain in mid-Michigan led to the breach of the Edenville and Sanford dams and destroyed public infrastructure, homes and businesses.
Whitmer declared a state of emergency on May 19, 2020, for Midland City and Midland County and later expanded the declaration to include additional impacted counties of Arenac, Gladwin, Saginaw and Iosco.
Midland will be able to use the new funding to facilitate natural infrastructure to reduce future flooding, reconstruct infrastructure with resilient and green features and retrofit low- and moderate-income homes to repair damage while increasing energy efficiency and resilience.
