Starting Tuesday, state officials will be assessing damage after mass flooding and tornadoes caused wreckage across the state.
Their findings, combined with online self-reporting from residents, will help officials determine if the disaster warrants an application for an Emergency Declaration from President Donald Trump.
Lauren Thompson-Phillips, a public information officer with Michigan State Police, said the state is asking to extend their application window to June 26.
Over the next few weeks, Thompson-Phillips said officials from state police, emergency management, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) will assess damage in 30 counties.
In the next few days, residents in Benzie, Charlevoix and Saginaw counties should expect to see officials knocking on doors.
“This is an effort to paint the larger picture,” Thompson-Phillips said. “We are visiting the hardest hit areas that have already been assessed by locals and we are going back in and validating damages that have been reported.”
Thompson-Phillips said officials will be clearly marked in uniforms and may leave stickers on doors. She said residents do not have to be home for officials to asses damage.
Nicole Wilson with FEMA said residents are not eligible to apply for relief funding from FEMA yet. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has to first apply for the declaration, and then it has to be signed by the president.
“Individual assistance and how much they will receive is all based on each individual person's story," Wilson said.
However, Thompson-Phillips said federal relief will not covers damages to vacation homes.
"Unfortunately, secondary homes, outhouses, garages, damage to structures like that do not go into the total that we are assessing," Thompson-Phillips said.
Harold Nunez with the SBA said residents will also be able to apply for low-interest loans through organization if the state is considered a federal emergency.
"If a disaster is approved, we encourage those that have small businesses that were impacted either financially or physically to visit one of those disaster recovery centers or business recovery centers that will be around the county have those conversations," Nunez said.
If the governor applies for the federal assistance, Thompson-Phillips said there’s still no telling when communities will see that relief.
