Mich. governor tours flood damage

Snyder meets Warren woman living in tent

Gretchen Domino stands in a doorway at her home where water flooded her basement and become so deep that it blew out a part of the basement wall. Floods ravaged the Detroit suburb following record rainfall on Aug. 12.

WARREN, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder toured flood-damage in metropolitan Detroit on Monday, meeting a woman who’s living in a tent in the front yard of her water-damaged home.

Coreena Dragoi, 46, said she moved into a tent after water and mold made her house uninhabitable.

“Everything on the first floor is a disaster,” she told Mr. Snyder. He said she and her 19-year-old son, Jeremy Long, have had to keep scavengers away from the house.

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts accompanied Mr. Snyder and U.S. Rep. Sander Levin on the visit to the northern Detroit suburb. Mr. Fouts said it’s vital to get federal aid for his community, where about 18,000 homes sustained some type of flood damage in last week’s record-setting rainstorm.

“We’ve got to get help from the federal government as soon as possible,” Mr. Fouts said.

Mr. Snyder said that he has asked the state insurance commissioner to look into the situation. He said he’s also been in contact with officials at the state and federal level.

“The biggest thing we need to do is get all of the information together for a presidential [disaster] declaration,” Mr. Snyder said.

The storm that hit Aug. 10 dumped more than 6 inches of rain in places, flooding streets and many basements. Some manhole covers and sewer grates were pushed up and out of place. Expressways were closed for days.

Warren, a city of 134,000, is home of General Motors Co.’s Tech Center, which has had operations curtailed by flooding. GM said it hopes to have all 19,000 employees and contract workers back into their buildings by Friday.

GM spokesman Katie McBride told The Detroit News that as of Monday, 15,500 employees and contractors were working from the Tech Center.

Detroit announced that it was opening two centers Tuesday through Friday to help residents get assistance for their flood-related needs.

The centers won’t offer direct aid but will help people apply for assistance as well as deal with contractors and health issues.