City of Midland awarded $5.5M for flood recovery efforts
By STEPHEN BOROWY
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Midland, MI (WNEM) — Millions of dollars have been awarded to Midland to help in the city’s recovery from severe storms and floods that happened in May 2020.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced $5.5 million was awarded to the city by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Funds from the Community Development Block Grant Declared Disaster Recovery Fund (DDR) will help the community rebuild to be more resilient from future disasters.
“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.”
The $5,476,035 in DDR funds will address community development needs from the disaster that happened last year. The city of Midland can use the funds to build 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.
“These events impacted the lives of residents, derailed businesses, and even affected our municipal operations,” Midland Mayor Maureen Donker said. “We’ve listened to the community to identify places where needs remain unmet, and, with these funds, we will improve infrastructure, address post-flood housing challenges, and become more sustainable and responsive to these events as we continue to grow and change as a community.”
Homes and businesses were destroyed after heavy rainfall led to the breach of the Edenville and Sanford dams on May 19, 2020. Whitmer declared a state of emergency for the city and county of Midland the same day.
The emergency declaration was later expanded to include Arenac, Gladwin, Saginaw, and Iosco counties. Whitmer also sent a letter to President Donald Trump on May 21, urging him to approve a federal emergency declaration for Midland County, which was approved the next day.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) was directed to investigate the cause of the failure of the Edenville and Sanford dams. FEMA issued a major disaster declaration for Arenac, Gladwin, Iosco, Midland, and Saginaw counties on July 9, 2020.
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