Gov. Snyder stops in U.P.

GOGEBIC COUNTY — Governor Snyder paid a visit to the western side of the U.P. to assess the storm damage in a local community.

After a strong storm system that swept through Gogebic County, residents were left with fallen trees, down power lines, and even some stuck in their homes. Governor Rick Snyder flew in to the area to meet with local residents and see how they were affected by the storms. Snyder landed in Little Girls Point, an area that was greatly affected by the storm system that swept through last week.

In this area, more than 40 residents were left stranded in their homes. After Snyder accessed the damage from a helicopter, he described it as a once in a lifetime storm.

“My understanding is that this is the kind of flood you get every thousands of years, so I was just kind of overwhelmed, the culverts in the roads in many respects” said Gov. Rick Snyder. “The most important thing is we didn’t have a loss of life here in Michigan, nor in homes.”

Snyder officially declared the area a disaster zone last week, giving emergency officials access to more resources, such as the National Guard. “The National Guard’s already on the ground here doing work, helping repair culverts with the county in partnership” Snyder continued. “The DNR has done a lot of work already and we appreciate everyone working together, the Michigan State Police. So again, we’ll prove resources, we want to be a good partner though. You’ve got a strong community in this area and we want to work well with them.”

While many residents did seem happy and assured to have Snyder in the area, others were still skeptical about the future progress and the long term repairs that will be made through the help of the state.

“All of the repairs that have been done so far have been temporary very little rock, primarily sand. It’s a matter of when, not if” said Little Girls Point resident, John Allen.

Although Snyder does not currently have a timeline of the repairs or an exact budget, the main focus at this time is to create safe paths for residents and emergency vehicles to come in and out of Little Girls Point.