Disaster Declaration Sought for UP Counties After Flooding From Spring Snowmelt

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has asked President Joe Biden to declare a major disaster declaration for five Upper Peninsula counties impacted earlier this year by flooding due to record spring snowmelt.

A presidential declaration would activate federal resources for Baraga, Gogebic, Iron, Marquette, and Ontonagon counties, Whitmer, a Democrat, said Friday in a release.

Snowmelt due to warming temperatures and rainfall caused widespread and repeated flooding across the west-central Upper Peninsula from April 10 to May 14. Storm water and sewer systems were overwhelmed, dams burst and culverts and embankments failed, Whitmer’s office said.

Drinking water systems, roadways and bridges also were damaged.

State, federal, and local officials conducted a joint preliminary damage assessment and local jurisdictions estimated more than $56 million in immediate response costs and damages to infrastructure and public facilities, according to Whitmer’s office.

Whitmer’s request will be reviewed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency which is expected to make a recommendation. Biden then would decide whether to declare a major disaster and grant federal aid.