Across the Midwest, homeowners have been hit with abnormally heavy rainfalls all summer long.
This is especially true for homeowners in Michigan, where August’s intense storms gave way to statewide flooding that wreaked havoc on homes — and their foundations. More than six inches of rainfall affected some areas of the state, aMonroe News article reports, and the costs for damage repair and cleanup have been estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Luckily, Michigan residents can file for assistance from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to get free repair work done on their homes in order to reverse the devastation of this summer’s floods.
According to CBS Detroit, the deadline to apply for FEMA assistance is November 24, and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is urging his state’s residents to apply as soon as possible.
“If you follow-up with the city, if you follow-up with insurance, that does not help with FEMA,” Snyder explained in a statement. “You have to separately register with FEMA, so that’s critically important. And there are two great places that people should be using to contact FEMA; one is the hotline … and the other is the website.”
“The best way to prevent home disasters like this is to get any preventative work done before something such as a big storm occurs. If you know you have a small problem, such as a crack, the best thing to do is to get it fixed as soon as you notice it so you don’t end up paying tons of money in the future for costly repairs,” says Austin Werner, Owner of The Real Seal LLC.
If left unattended, the cost of repairing extensive water damage to a home’s foundation can be anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000. Unrepaired water damage can also have unexpected consequences, like mold growth and frequent basement floods.
To ensure these costs are avoided, it’s essential for Michigan’s homeowners to apply now for assistance from FEMA, which has already offered $10 million in assistance to people throughout the state, CBS Detroit reported.
To apply for FEMA assistance, you can call 1-(800) 621-FEMA or visit www.disasterassistance.gov.