Damage Assessment Does Not Support Requests for State Declarations

Contact: First Lieutenant Harold Love, Michigan State Police, (517) 333-5038

The Michigan State Police (MSP) Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division (EMHSD) determined damage assessment information submitted by Eaton County and the City of Lansing for damage caused by severe wind and tornadoes on August 24 does not support a state of disaster or emergency declaration.

Throughout the response period, MSP EMHSD personnel were in frequent contact with Eaton County and City of Lansing emergency management officials to determine the extent of damage and assess the need for state assistance with storm clean up and recovery efforts.  The outstanding efforts of Eaton County and the City of Lansing concerning immediate threats to public health, safety and property, resulted in the need for only minimal state resources to augment local response forces. 

Because immediate storm-related threats have now passed, the remaining purpose for a state declaration is for funding assistance under Public Act 390 Section 30.419, commonly called Section 19.  Eligibility for Section 19 is contingent upon exhaustion of local resources, experience of extraordinary financial burden and availability of state funding.  Reimbursement is limited to public damage and direct loss from the disaster or emergency and cannot be applied to private damage incurred by home or business owners.  

"The response and recovery efforts of Eaton County and the City of Lansing are nothing short of honorable as the hardships these communities face are immense," said Capt. Eddie Washington, commander of the MSP EMHSD.  "Open communication between local jurisdictions and state personnel played an integral role in ensuring communities had the immediate resources needed to lessen immediate threats to life, health, public safety and property."

The requests will be reconsidered if additional information or data becomes available or if direct state assistance is required to address lingering threats to public health, safety or property.