Michigan Gov. Whitmer expands state of emergency to Village of Holly, Tuscola County
Michgian Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency in Tuscola County and the Village of Holly in Oakland County because of extreme flooding.
A series of heavy rains in April overwhelmed Holly's wastewater system, with peak flows spiking over 5 million gallons per day. Holly Village President April Brandon said last week that the level is far beyond the system's normal capacity, resulting in damage to critical infrastructure, like the failure of a primary pump, and disruption to control systems.
Brandon said the repair and maintenance costs to keep up with the wastewater issues have already exceeded $20,000 and will continue to rise.
"Today, as I extend the existing state of emergency to Tuscola County and the Village of Holly, we now have 41 counties and three municipalities facing damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure from recent severe weather, including historic flooding, tornadoes, and straight-line winds," said Whitmer in a statement. "While the impacts are unprecedented, we will rebuild and recover together, and I will ensure every community has access to the resources they need every step of the way. Thank you to every first responder who has stepped up to protect Michiganders and their property."
Flooding caused significant impacts on residents in Holly, including about 230 homes in the Hawaiian Gardens modular home community.
In Tuscola County, state officials say widespread flooding caused severe damage to roads, culverts and bridges, and permanently closed one road until repairs can be finished.
Whitmer first declared a state of emergency for Cheboygan County on April 10, and later expanded that the delcaration on April 15 to include the counties of Alcona, Allegan, Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Barry, Benzie, Charlevoix, Clare, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Gratiot, Iosco, Kalkaska, Lake, Leelanau, Manistee, Menominee, Missaukee, Montcalm, Montmorency, Newaygo, Oceana, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Osceola, Presque Isle, Roscommon, Saginaw, Shiawassee and Wexford.
Since then, Whitmer has declared states of emergencies in Eaton, Iron, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Marquette, Mecosta and Muskegon counties, as well as the cities of Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo. In Ann Arbor, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down on April 14, causing significant damage in neighborhoods as well as to the Veterans Memorial Park and the University of Michigan's Yost Ice Arena.
By declaring a state of emergency, Whitmer authorizes the use of all available state resources to assist local response and recovery operations in the affected counties. Michigan State Police is assisting local emergency response efforts.
