MASON, Mich — Another round of severe weather is threatening Michigan neighborhoods, days after deadly storms left a trail of destruction across the state.
WATCH BELOW: Severe weather returns to Michigan; officials urge residents to prepare and sign up for alerts
Ingham County Emergency Manager Rob Dale is monitoring the radar closely as a new storm system approaches.
"We had tornados last week, a lot of flooding, hail," Dale said.
"We'll be monitoring the weather all throughout today, it looks like our stronger storms might wait until after evening," Dale said.
Dale says local alert systems are among the best tools residents have to stay informed ahead of severe weather.
"We use the wireless emergency alert system, so it automatically goes to your phone if there's a tornado warning, or extreme winds, or very large hail. We do recommend though that you sign up for our capital area alerts so you can get additional information," Dale said.
On Friday, Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for several West Michigan counties. Damage assessments are now underway.
"The governor will decide whether or not the damage that the state has sustained has risen to the level in which we would request a federal declaration from the president," Lauren Thompson said.
Thompson is the public information and preparedness section manager with Michigan State Police's Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division. She says if federal funding for public assistance is denied, the state would pursue funding through the Michigan Disaster and Emergency Contingency Fund.
"If it was denied, then it would come back to the state and that's where our section 19 funding and the disaster and emergency contingency fund would come into play," Thompson said.
Thompson cautioned that the process can be lengthy.
"One in particular that's a little over three million dollars is slated for the upper peninsula, after 2023 major snow melt event caused massive flooding there. You can see that was several years ago, so it does take a while to move through the process," Thompson said.
Dale says regardless of any storm's severity, residents should identify a safe shelter location before severe weather arrives.
"Take that time right now in case you do need to get down to that safe space in a hurry, it's all ready to go," Dale said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Want more FOX 47 News? Here's how you download our Roku app
You can also see the latest news from across our mid-Michigan neighborhoods by liking us on Facebook or following us on X.
