DETROIT – Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency visited Detroit Thursday to assess flood damage.
Read: FEMA assessing flood damage in Wayne County Thursday
It’s a part of the push to get the White House to make a disaster declaration, which would bring more funding to Detroit to help with the cleanup.
Mayor Mike Duggan said he was told my President Joe Biden that it Detroit could see the assistance within five weeks of the paperwork being turned in.
FEMA walked the streets and spoke with residents in one of Detroit’s neighborhoods hit hardest by the flooding.
“We’ve been without water for about 10 days. I just replaced my hot water tank and I haven’t had to go to the laundromat since I was a child. The washer and dryer are out so looks like this weekend I’ll have to go to the laundromat,” said Theresa Bonham. “I think I’m OK so far. I’ve been able to cover my basics, but a washer and dryer wasn’t an expense -- even a hot water heater wasn’t an expense in the budget right now.”
Duggan met with residents and FEMA. He said he’s been on the phone with the Biden Administration nearly every day.
“When I talked to the President on Saturday, I reminded him that in 2014, President Obama gave us the declaration five weeks after the storm,” Duggan said. “The president said to me, ‘If you get your paperwork up, I will definitely beat that.’”