President Obama has declared a federal emergency in Flint this past week. It meant freeing up around 5 million in federal aid funds to help the ones with health crisis immediately. Furthermore, he did deny Rick Snyder’s request for the declaration of disaster.
President Obama declares emergency in Flint;
If the president did declare disaster, it would have meant a lot more funding available to the public and the Flint residents who have got even their drinking water contaminated by lead, would have had something more to cheer about. The president didn’t make any mistake though; only natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes can be considered eligible to be declared as disasters. The lead contamination is thus a “manmade catastrophe”.
- Also Read: 2024 Federal Employee Benefits Changes You Can’t Afford to Ignore
- Also Read: The Benefits Every Federal Employee Should Take Advantage Of—And What You Might Be Missing Out On
- Also Read: What Exactly is the Five-Year Rule for Roth IRA Withdrawals? Find Out Here
While the governor’s stance of asking for disaster declaration was justified in his own place, President Obama did well under the circumstances because to declare some happening as a disaster requires a lot of contemplation and legal clearances. Where the flint incident is really tragic and the affected people should get all the care and the support that the government can provide them, it’s not necessarily a natural disaster of any sorts. Here’s hoping that the assistance that they will end up getting is substantial enough to make them persist through these hard times and emerge stronger than before.
