DETROIT – Mayor Mike Duggan is assuring Detroiters help to recover from the most recent flooding is on the way. That assistance is coming from the White House.
President Joe Biden was in Michigan on Saturday.
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“He had time after doing all of the other things and sit down with me and talk about the flooding issues in Detroit,” Duggan said. “He’s been a huge Detroit supporter all along and he’s going to help us.”
Duggan spoke Local 4 about his conversation with President Joe Biden immediately following his visit in Michigan. Duggan said the main topic of conversation was flooding.
“I showed him the pictures -- which are very powerful -- the streets were under water and all of the debris stacked up in many of our neighborhoods. I laid out a proposal for the city potentially to advance money to Detroit homeowners and have FEMA pay us back,” said Duggan.
Duggan said President Biden is on board.
“He told his staff that he wanted the Emergency Order done for Detroit as fast as legally possible so we can get money into the hands of our residents for reimbursements as quickly as possible,” Duggan said.
That’s good news for the Robinsons, who experienced the wrath of ‘Mother Nature’ first hand, when the storms flooded their basement in the Jefferson Chalmers area.
“We lost everything in our basement. Kid’s trophies, valuable pictures, pretty had to gut out the whole basement. The bathroom, cut out the drywall, carpet, padding, clothing,” said Jaimare Robinson.
“It’s terrible. This is probably like our fourth flood,” said Kwanza Robinson.
The Robinsons said they have insurance, but that barely scratches the surface.
“We have an insurance policy and they don’t cover everything,” said Jaimare Robinson. “You’re able to basically put your basement back together, pretty much that’s about it.”
Duggan said he knows Detroiters are frustrated, but he said he’s working with President Biden’s Team and he’s sure help is on the way soon.
“He was very interested in that and he assured me that the highest level of FEMA people will be calling me first thing because he liked the idea a lot,” Duggan concluded.