DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Nearly one month after floods first wreaked havoc on metro Detroit homeowners are still cleaning up, wondering if they’ll get help to pay for it.
Both the Small Business Administration and FEMA are offering help to residents and they held a town hall with Dearborn officials to provide answers.
Block after block on the east side of Dearborn trash is still piled out at the road as residents continue cleaning up, still begging for help.
It’ll be another busy weekend for Ali Ahmed and his son Yassine. The Dearborn family is unloading supplies to fix their basement after it flooded back in June.
“It happened in 2014,” Ahmed says. “I spent about 20,000 or more to fix my house, the basement, and now it happened again”
That $20,000 is now sitting at the curb, ruined.
The Ahmed’s and their neighbors will have to dig into their pockets to pay for repairs again.
“Nobody has the money, this kind of money to keep fixing their houses every couple years,” says Yassine Ahmed.
Representative Debbie Dingell, along with FEMAand the SBA, held a town hall for hours, fielding question after question from residents in need of help.
“I want to reiterate that FEMA is not insurance, they are not an insurance program. They’re just another tool in the toolbox to help you,” Dingell told the town hall.
FEMA was out getting info from Detroit residents earlier this week on the east side where the cleanup is also still underway.
The City of Detroit has offered help, passing out buckets of cleaning supplies and a mop.
“I’m not going to say it’s not appreciated but there’s so much more that’s needed and so many people that can’t even get out to get this stuff,” says Detroit resident Cecilia Walker.
As the Ahmed family gets ready for another unwanted basement renovation, they hope this time they get help footing the bill, and a solution to this ongoing problem.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of money, and we think the government here, the city of Dearborn is not doing enough to protect the residents of Dearborn,” says Ali Ahmed.
Starting tomorrow, FEMA is opening a recovery site at the Henry Ford Centennial Library. It’ll be open from 7 am until 7 pm. Residents can go there for paperwork and to get some questions answered.
