Trump APPROVES disaster funding for Michigan floods after Gov Whitmer pleaded for federal help
TRUMP has approved emergency federal funding for Michigan after floods saw 10,000 people evacuated from their homes, and the governor was forced to beg for help due to the "imminent danger" of a 500 year flood.
Gov Gretchen Whitmer had asked President Trump to declare an emergency in Midland County on an expedited basis after a dam burst following heavy rains.
The damage caused by the flood could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Whitmer told Trump.
In a letter to the president, she noted the impact of the coronavirus on hazard preparations, Michigan Live reported.
"Despite our efforts, local and state resources have been insufficient to respond to the situation," the letter, sent on Wednesday, read.
"The availability of equipment and personnel is further limited due to the ongoing effects and response requirements of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"Therefore, additional federal assistance is required to protect public health, safety, and property, and to lessen or avert the threat of more severe and persisting impacts to the community."
On Thursday, Trump declared a state of emergency in Michigan and authorized the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.
Whitmer had highlighted the need for speedy removal of debris and said mobile bridges and assistance from the US Army Corps of Engineers may be needed.
According to Midland County's 2018 hazard mitigation plan, estimates for damage to buildings if the Edenville Dam fails could reach $878,974,848.
Whitmer noted the failure of the Dam following six to eight inches of rain over 48 hours, as well as the over-topping of the Sanford Dam.
Boyce Hydro Power, the company which operated the now-collapsed Edenville Dam, had its license revoked in 2018 for failing to address safety concerns, The Sun revealed yesterday.
On Tuesday, the Edenville Dam collapsed after days of heavy rainfall – forcing 10,000 residents in Midland County, Michigan to evacuate as 38-foot-floods rushed through the area.
"The management of debris will be critically important to recovery in the days immediately following this flood disaster,” the letter continued.
“The wet, heavy, contaminated flood debris from damaged homes and businesses will create dangerous and unsanitary conditions in the affected areas.”
Water levels as high as nine feet were expected in some towns.
In an order dated September 10, 2018, Boyce Hydro had its operating license for the Edenville Dam revoked.
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) cited "longstanding failure to increase the project’s spillway capacity to safely pass flood flows" among other compliance issues in the license revokal.
Over a 14-year-period – since Boyce acquired the license in 2004 – there were a number of "non-compliance issues," the FERC said.
FERC added: "...Boyce Hydro has failed to comply with numerous requirements of its license related to dam safety, recreation, and other resources."
One of the major issued cited in the license revokal was an "inability to pass the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF)4 due to inadequate spillway capacity."
The PMF is defined in the order as a flood that could "be expected from the most severe combination" of severe weather and water conditions "that is reasonably possible."
In the order, the FERC cited a series of missed deadlines, with Boyce "failing to make any significant progress" in improvements of the dam to meet the PMF.
According to the license revokal document, Boyce failed to have an initial auxiliary spillway built by November 14, 2015.
The spillway was supposed to be built on the Tobacco River side of the dam.
A little more than a year later, a second spillway was supposed be built on the Tittabawassee River side, according to the documents.
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"Boyce Hydro failed to meet these new deadlines, as well as other deadlines, and has yet to file complete and adequate plans for either auxiliary spillway despite receiving numerous extensions of time to complete certain design phase analyses and to file documents," the letter from FERC said.
The company also failed to meet with a compliance order in 2017 that laid out specific requirements for the dam to operate, the revokal order stated.
FERC alleged that "Boyce Hydro knowingly violated its license," and stated that it was thereby revoked.
"Unfortunately Boyce Hydro is unable to provide extensive comment or information at this time regarding a very complex subject matter," Lee Mueller, who is listed as the Owner, Architect & Co-Member Manager of Boyce, said in an email to The Sun.
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