Fifty-million dollars in federal aid is coming to Northern Michigan after months of local and state officials advocating for relief from a historic ice storm that swept through the region in March.
The decision was announced on Tuesday by President Donald Trump in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“I just spoke with Governor Gretchen Whitmer to let her know I am approving $50 million for the wonderful State of Michigan for public assistance to help them recover from the terrible winter storms they endured,” Trump wrote. “It was my honor to do so!"
The ice storm destroyed or damaged an estimated three million acres of land, 919,500 of which were state forest, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. At its peak, the storm knocked out power for 145,000 utility customers across the region, leaving some in the most rural areas without power for weeks.
While the details on the relief are not clear, local officials say they are excited to hear the funding has been approved.
“It is going to be a great deal to our county,” said Presque Isle Commissioner Robin Hughes. “We've been looking forward to that and looking forward to the answer when it was going to come through. To actually see it coming through, I was very excited to see it.”
Montmorency County was hit hard by the storm, and officials are still finding ways to fund clean-up. Village of Hillman manager David Post says that their biggest cost was paying workers overtime to help the village recover.
“We would basically be trying to recover what we already spent,” Post said. “We rented equipment and spent a lot of time cleaning up in the village hauling brush away.”
Alpena County Administrator Jesse Osmer said that the county hopes to reallocate funding that was used during and after the storm.
“We have a lot of overtime from our grounds maintenance crew,” Osmer said. “We have clean-up on county property. Obviously, we want to look at our generators that we're working overtime that week.”
Janet Koch is the deputy administrator for Antrim County. She said that although Antrim did not sustain as much damage as surrounding areas, downed trees, debris and power outages took a toll on the eastern and northwestern parts of the county.
“Our road commission was out hundreds of thousands of dollars for hiring a tree clearing crew from downstate to get our many, many roads that were filled with debris cleared,” Koch said.
She said that federal aid is good news for Michigan and that the county will be doing its best to ensure they are allocated for the best possible use.
“One hopes that the money would be distributed to those who need it most,” Koch said.
In May, Whitmer formally requested a major disaster declaration to help Northern Michigan recover from March’s severe ice storms.
Weeks after the storm, Whitmer met with President Trump at the White House to push for federal aid, following an earlier request for an emergency declaration to secure funding for emergency response efforts.
In a Wednesday afternoon press release, Whitmer said she’s working with the administration to secure additional support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including Individual Assistance (IA) for residents and businesses, while seeking statewide funding for hazard mitigation.
Whitmer thanked President Trump and Michigan's Congressional delegation for their support.
“Michiganders across the state stepped up to help our neighbors, and while other parts of our request remain under review, we will continue advocating together to help Northern Michigan recover and rebuild,” she said in the release.
Other lawmakers shared their thoughts on federal aid announcement.
State Representative Ken Borton (R-Gaylord) “applauded” President Trump’s announcement in press release.
“Our entire Northern Michigan community is breathing a collective sigh of relief tonight after President Trump announced he was sending this funding our way,” Borton said in a statement. “These federal dollars will finally take us from ‘just getting by’ to ‘getting back to normal.’”
State Senator John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) told WCMU the funding is a “good start,” but said Northern Michigan needs more.
“The devastation was unbelievable,” he said. “But $50 million, I feel like is a good faith start in this whole process towards recovery.”
Damoose said that a separate $100 million bill for ice storm recovery, currently pending in the state Senate, is also not enough.
The bill in question was introduced in the state House in April as a $75 million relief grant to be allocated to local governments “in areas of this state that have realized a significant financial hardship caused by storm damage,” the bill reads. The House went on to pass $100 million in aid for the region in May.
Damoose proposes that upwards of $150 million should be allocated for ice storm recovery, supporting the maple syrup industry, reforestation efforts, individual homeowners and electrical co-ops.
“We're not going to get everything we asked for, but I'm hopeful that we'll get a substantial amount before the end,” he said.
State Representative Parker Fairbairn (R-Harbor Springs), said that the federal government’s commitment to Northern Michigan is “amazing to see” after months of waiting.
In terms of the $100 million aid bill in the Senate, Fairbairn said that the House will continue to keep Michiganders up to date on any new information, hoping to eventually reimburse individuals who have suffered during the ice storm.
Fairbairn said that the best way to allocate the bill’s aid is through local channels, with funds distributed by the Michigan State Police to counties. The counties would then handle reimbursements. That approach, he said, ensures the money is managed by elected officials who are accountable to their communities.
“There's still a lot of work to be done, but we're still fighting hard to try and get those dollars and get the support we need,” he said.
