As Montmorency County works to rebuild the community from northern Michigan's historic ice storms, they are working to mitigate wildfires, economic damage — and a federal regulation that may block some aid for houses.
That’s because the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not provide relief funding for secondary residences like vacation homes, according to the FEMA website.
“That's the bad thing with a lot of our people up here in northern Michigan, especially Montmorency County. A lot of our individuals (have) second homes, and there’s hunt clubs,” said Michelle Hamlin, a Montmorency commissioner based in Atlanta.
It’s not clear what resources are available to help pick up the tab to fix damage to those homes.
“I really don't know, especially when it comes to the second home, what they can do,” Hamlin said. “They could call in on their insurance, but for relief, that I don't know.”
Albert Township Supervisor, Michael Szukhent echoed those concerns.
"How are we going to handle it? We're a small township. We can't absorb that money," he said.
Fallen trees and branches have also raised concerns for potential wildfires this summer.
“You have hundreds, thousands of acres that is just plain nothing but sticks,” Szukhent said. “(If) it's warm and there's a gentle breeze, all it's going to take is a spark because everything is dry.”
County officials like Hamlin are warning people to avoid activities that might cause fires, especially as crews work to remove brush. The county is currently not issuing burn permits.
“We’re really trying to get out there: do not burn. Do not, when you're driving down the road, flick your cigarette out,” Hamlin said.
Economically, the region relies heavily on tourism, and storm damage has blocked some roads and caused many state parks and trails to close.
“All those people downstate that come up here and spend their money, and God bless those people for spending their money, they're going to go somewhere else,” Szukhent said.
Despite those challenges, and others like power surges, continued outages and damage to infrastructure, officials say the recovery process is moving along.
Emergency officials from the state and other counties have helped with disaster response, and politicians from both parties are working to secure federal aid.
A damage assessment to private and public property across 12 northern Michigan counties is ongoing. This will be used to see whether northern Michigan qualifies for a major disaster declaration and more federal funding.
Szukhent expressed appreciation for the statewide reaction and said he's thankful the storm wasn’t worse.
“The ice storm was a pain in the neck, royal pain in the neck, still is a pain in the neck, but no one died.”
