Lansing Mayor Schor wants to establish a $500K disaster relief fund

LANSING — Mayor Andy Schor announced Monday that he will ask City Council to approve a $500,000 disaster relief fund within the city budget to clean up damage from a late August storm that ripped through the region causing extensive damage and leaving thousands without power.

Schor said in a press release that he has been speaking with City Council President Carol Wood about disaster relief money and anticipates his proposal will move quickly through council’s legislative process. Wood could not be immediately reached for comment.

"We are cleaning up the City and expending resources and dollars to do it,” Schor said. “We will ask for reimbursement of these costs from (Federal Emergency Management Agency), and until then I am proposing to invest available dollars to create a fund that we can use for future emergencies to ensure that Lansing has the immediate funding to face any challenge.”

If approved, the new Disaster Relief Fund would immediately appropriate $500,000 for storm cleanup costs.

With city and state emergency declarations, Lansing would apply for cost reimbursements. The reimbursements would restore the new fund for future disasters or emergencies.

The storm struck Lansing Aug. 24, knocking down trees and power lines throughout the Lansing area. It also spawned a tornado that struck the Webberville area. The storm affected more than 30,000 Lansing Board of Water & Light customers and is linked to the deaths of up to five people.

Vernita Payne, 84, died after a tree fell on her Lansing home. A man from the Hartland area was killed when a tornado struck Interstate 96 near Webberville and flipped 17 tractor trailers.

The deaths of two people in Lansing are under investigation for potential carbon monoxide poisoning after they were found in a home where a generator was running. An Ohio tree trimmer was electrocuted while helping with storm cleanup.