Flood damage may cost Mount Pleasant more than $6 million in repairs
Damage caused by last weekend's flooding may cost the city of Mount Pleasant an estimated $6.1 million.
That estimate includes damage to streets, parks, buildings, the water plant and the wastewater treatment plant.
City Manager Nancy Ridley said it's still unclear if the city, or its residents, will receive any financial assistance. She encouraged the residents to be patient as city employees continue to assess storm damage.
"Our community is under a level of stress that it has never been under," Ridley said. "We each need to take an extra breathe and try to help each other out. Just know we're all working as quickly as we can to get things back to normal."
After covering all 10 agenda items at Monday's city commission meeting, Ridley said it was necessary to talk about the recent floods, which have left Isabella County in a State of Emergency.
The city submitted the estimated cost of damages due to flooding to Isabella County on Monday after FEMA-trained damage assessment teams went door to door collecting data on Sunday. The county is coordinating estimates of damage, including private property damage.
Ridley expressed her gratitude to the staff at the Emergency Operations Center, among other volunteers who have been working to clean up the city and peoples' homes.
Members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Central Michigan University, the American Red Cross and Union Charter Township were among the volunteer groups Ridley thanked for their aid. Cooperation from the community, Ridley said, has been "nothing less than incredible."
“When things like this happen in communities, sometimes it brings out the best in people. Sometimes in brings out the worst in people," Ridley said. "From what I’ve experienced over the last four days, we have by and large seen much more of the best in people in our community, and in our staff and our partners."
Mayor Kathy Ling, whose home was damaged by the flood, took time at the end of Monday's regular meeting to thank the Red Cross for sheltering people who were displaced from their homes. She also thanked the many restoration companies that came from around the state for working "tireless and endless" hours to aid the city during this emergency.
Ling shared a story about one of the workers who was helping out at her home.
“He mentioned that the place that they had just been at had provided pizza for them," Ling said. "Other people had been providing them with all kinds of refreshments and help, and were so cooperative, helpful and patient. He ended by saying, ‘I just love Mount Pleasant.’ So that’s a nice thing to hear.”
Parks remain closed. Ridley discouraged residents from going into the flood waters and the Chippewa River. There is a chance the water is still contaminated and the current is moving too fast.
City workers will pick up any large damaged left by the curbside on Saturday. For more information, call Public Works at (989) 779-5401.
