Gretchen Whitmer appeals federal aid denials for northern Michigan ice storm

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is appealing a partial approval for federal aid that granted millions to governments and nonprofits
Residents and utilities were not approved for disaster aid, something Whitmer argued is sorely needed
Whitmer appealed directly to President Donald Trump for more aid in early August

LANSING — Months after an ice storm rocked Michigan’s northern lower peninsula, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is appealing aid denials by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that have prevented residents and utilities from directly seeking government assistance.

President Donald Trump last month announced he would approve $50 million in assistance for storm recovery efforts. But the federal disaster aid approval was limited: FEMA approved assistance to state, local, tribal and territorial governments and certain private-non-profit organizations.

Whitmer had also requested federal aid for individual households and public utilities, along with Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding to make changes to lessen the impact of a similar storm in the future.

Those requests were not approved, meaning residents who saw ice-covered trees fall on their homes cannot apply directly for federal aid.

In a Monday appeal letter to FEMA, Whitmer said many of the residents in the region were “vulnerable to disasters and will struggle to recover from its impacts.”

“Michigan families and businesses deserve the support they need to recover from these storms,” Whitmer said in a statement, noting many Michiganders were “still reeling” from the storm’s impacts.

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The storm encased a broad swatch of the northern lower peninsula and southern tip of the upper peninsula in inches of ice in late months, knocking down millions of trees, damaging homes and businesses, and devastating electrical infrastructure in the region. Many residents in the largely rural area spent days to weeks without power.

As an example of the need for further aid, Whitmer noted cooperative utility Presque Isle Electric & Gas, which has about 35,000 customers, suffered an estimated $150 million in damages. Without federal assistance, those costs “will have to be repaid by their members through surcharges and rate increases” totaling “at least $4,500 per household.”

The governor’s appeal has bipartisan backing from other elected officials representing the region, including both of the state’s Democratic US senators and US Rep. Jack Bergman, a Republican from Watersmeet who said in a statement he “strongly” supports the appeal.

Whitmer visited Trump in the White House in early August, days after the White House had officially approved a disaster declaration for the state, and said she discussed “Ongoing recovery efforts” from the ice storm while also lobbying him on potential medicaid changes and auto tariffs.

It was the Democratic governor’s third White House meeting with the Republican president this year. Whitmer contends those meetings have borne fruit, pointing to funding for a new fighter jet mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and plans for an Illinois barrier meant to keep invasive Asian carp from the Great Lakes.

In her letter to Michael Chesney, FEMA’s acting administrator for the region, Whitmer noted the storm was the first time Michigan has ever requested help from other states under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a mutual aid agreement between states that Michigan joined in 2002.

“The State of Michigan exhausted all available avenues to address the needs created by this incident before requesting federal assistance,” Whitmer wrote.

“The requirements of this major disaster continue to be outside the scope of what the state and local governments, augmented by assistance from other states, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, can shoulder.”