Who Is Going To Pay To Clean Up Metro Detroit Flood Damage?
By Tresa Baldas, Christina Hall and Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Homeowners want to know. So do business owners and local officials, who are scrambling to figure out how much total damage was done. So far, the cities hit by flooding have determined that 33% to 50% of homes were damaged. That's more than 34,000 structures.
But new reports of flood damage keep coming in -- the latest involving a half-dozen basements collapsing in
Whether federal aid becomes available remains uncertain.
But if
"If the federal government can help flood-damaged communities in various countries in the world,"
-- Insurance: Many flooded basements won't be covered
Fouts said Monday's heavy rains damaged 18,047 structures in
"It's going to be a lot of money," Fouts said of the total flood damage cost, stressing the city and homeowners need federal assistance. "This was a cataclysmic, difficult type of rain."
Like Fouts,
"There are lots of questions," said
On Thursday, municipalities started adding up the numbers of houses that were damaged by flooding. The numbers are startling.
--
In
Add to that, municipal buildings were damaged as well, including the
State officials stressed they are working as quickly as possible to help metro
"If there is significant damage, the governor will request a presidential disaster declaration," said
The request will include a detailed list of damage in the region. The
"But nothing is guaranteed," Leix cautioned.
Leix did not give a time line, but said all the damage estimates from the communities should be in in the next few days.
"We're working as quickly and efficiently as possible to make sure people get what they need," Leix said.
But O'Reilly said that the storm was a once-in-lifetime event, so it would be unfair to blame the city for the problems.
"The system was operating the best it could, but the volume overwhelmed it," said O'Reilly, cautioning that many might not get assistance because of the uniqueness of the storm.
On Wednesday, after witnessing the damage via helicopter, Gov.
In the wake of Snyder's designation, the
"At this time, there is no indication that federal funding will be made available to assist with flood damage to basements," the police department said in a statement. "Once the assessment is complete, the state will review the information to determine whether
If the region does qualify for aid, the statement said, homeowners will be notified about how to apply for help.
Meanwhile, residents across the region spent much of Thursday cleaning and airing out their homes, lugging their drenched belongings to curbs and seeking help with paying for the damage.
At Lowe's Home Improvement in
"We've been able to get emergency shipments from our distribution center," manager
Downriver communities didn't get hit as bad as other cities, though flooding remains a problem in some areas.
In
Also in
In
-- The estimated cost for removing water-damaged items from the curb is
-- Roughly 100 sewer leads from homes to sanitary mains were damaged at an estimated repair cost of
-- A section of Toepfer under construction west of
-- Five road construction projects have been suspended because of storm-related damage at a cost of
In
"The most important thing for people to do is to report damage," said
Added
Staff writers
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