Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Gogebic County left out SBA request
By RICHARD JENKINS
LANSING — With the Federal Emergency Management Agency upholding its decision to deny individual assistance to those impacted by the mid-June rains that caused flooding across parts of the Upper Peninsula, Gov. Rick Snyder is turning to the U.S. Small Business Administration for help. But even if the SBA decides to provide assistance to those impacted by the storm, it appears Gogebic County residents won’t be able to benefit.
While Snyder sent a letter to the SBA Tuesday asking the administration to declare a disaster and make impacted residents and businesses eligible for low-interest loans to cover rebuilding costs, the disaster declaration would only be limited to Houghton County and the surrounding area.
“When you go to the Small Business Administration, you have a target county. And then it looks like if they approve it, (assistance) can be in contiguous counties as well,” Snyder spokesman Ari Adler told the Daily Globe.
Houghton was where the worst of the damage from the storm occurred, with the National Weather Service reporting as much as 7 inches fell on parts of the county. Ontonagon, Baraga, Iron and Keweenaw counties were listed in Snyder’s letter as contiguous counties that also incurred damage.
Adler said the state was still trying to find ways to help those in Gogebic County and elsewhere recover from the storm, however, there may be no assistance available.
“We’re still reviewing that. I’m not sure there is going to be, we’re kind of running out of options here,” Adler said. “But we’re going to continue to look at possibilities and see what we can do.”
Much like FEMA, Adler said the SBA has certain criteria to determine whether assistance is merited. He explained that while individuals who sustained damage may feel significantly effected by the storm, the federal government often takes a larger view of the scale of the disaster when determining whether to grant assistance.
Several rain storms the weekend of June 15-17 caused flooding across parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and the U.P .; causing road washouts and other damage in the region. Gogebic County Emergency Management officials said in August the numbers were still being finalized but roughly $334,000 of the $44 million in storm damage occurred in Gogebic County.
Snyder issued a state disaster declaration for Houghton and Menominee counties June 18, adding Gogebic County to the declaration June 21. President Donald Trump declared a federal disaster in the three counties Aug. 2, making them eligible for public assistance and hazard mitigation efforts.
FEMA informed the state it was denying individual assistance Aug. 6, with the state appealing the decision later in the month.
Snyder expressed regret that FEMA was upholding its original decision.
“I’m disappointed FEMA did not recognize the severity of the economic impacts on homeowners and local businesses in the affected area who have suffered property damage and lost wages and productivity as a result of this disaster,” he said in a news release. “We will continue to explore options to help these communities recover from the devastation of the flood.”
Adler said there was no set timeline on when the state would hear from the SBA regarding whether it would provide assistance.
Trump issued a federal disaster declaration Aug. 11 for six Wisconsin counties, including Iron County, impacted by the storm. Those counties had more than $13.1 million in damage to public infrastructure, with Iron County sustaining $707,000 in damage. Andrew Beckett, an assistant public information officer with Wisconsin Emergency Management, told the Daily Globe the state only sought assistance for public infrastructure repairs.
