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IRON RIVER — The federal government has denied Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s appeal for a major disaster declaration as a result of flooding in the U.P. last spring. Iron County is one of six counties included in the appeal; the others are Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Marquette and Ontonagon.
“…The impact of this event is not of the severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments,” concluded Deanne Criswell, administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in a Dec. 23 letter to Whitmer.
The counties banded together to apply for the funds last May 2023, after a heavy melt in April caused flooding and major damage to transportation infrastructure. Whitmer declared a state of emergency at the time.
If the counties could demonstrate to FEMA $17.8 million in damages between the six of them, a federal major disaster could be declared to open up funding to cover damages. The original application exceeded that threshold, with estimates for Iron County hitting $4.8 million, Gogebic County reporting an estimated $10 million in damages and Ontonagon another $7 million.
However, those estimates were based on repairs that met standards set by the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. While FEMA originally approved eligible sites in Iron County, in late May the counties were given one day to revise their estimates based not on EGLE standards but pre-disaster conditions. That dropped the cost of damages down to $523,000, making the counties ineligible for funding and leading to Whitmer’s appeal.
Interim Superintendent for the Iron County Road Commission Brad Toivonen expressed frustration over FEMA’s decision.
“We know that in other regions of the nation, EGLE or similar environmental agency’s codes and standards were used to prepare cost estimates to repair damaged culverts and bridge crossings to those specifications, so why are they not using them up here?” he said. “Our low-income, low-populated area should be treated the same as any other area in the nation and that is very upsetting to me.”
Most of the damage in Iron County was to roadway and culvert washouts caused by rapid snow melt and high water levels. Toivonen said Snuff Country Road and Hemlock River suffered the most severe damage, with significant damage to Maki and Bradley roads as well.
“Although Iron County’s damage was not to the scale of the northern snowbelt counties, it still will affect our budgets for the next few years,” Toivonen said. “We plan to keep pursuing emergency funding using our elected legislators and County Road Association to help ease the burden of the repairs needed.”