(WXYZ) — According to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's office, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved the governor’s request to expand the Major Disaster Declaration to households in Macomb and Oakland counties following the heavy rainfall and flooding across southeast Michigan in late June.
FEMA’s agreement to expand the disaster declaration follows a letter Governor Whitmer sent to FEMA on September 24 appealing a previous denial of assistance to the area.
This approval now allows households affected by the flooding in Macomb and Oakland counties to apply for individual assistance, such as grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help people and businesses recover.
“I want to thank the Biden Administration for their continued partnership in securing additional assistance for Michigan families. FEMA’s decision to grant our request for individual assistance is welcome news for Michiganders in Oakland and Macomb counties who have been impacted by unprecedented flooding this summer,” Governor Whitmer said. “We are going to do everything in our power to ensure that Michiganders get the assistance they need to recover from these storms. And we have an opportunity under the bipartisan infrastructure bill to make long-term upgrades to our infrastructure to ensure that local systems can handle historic rainfall going forward.”
If you'd like to apply for assistance, you have a few options. You can call 1-800-621-3362 -- available seven days a week. You can also apply online at disasterassistance.gov. You can also download the FEMA app.
