White House appoints federal official to lead Flint response

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver has previously said the costs to undo the damage, both to infrastructure and residents’ health, could be between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.

First, President Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint and the surrounding county on Saturday at the request of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, freeing up federal resources for locals affected by the water supply.

“We are praying for you, we are working hard for you and we are absolutely committed to taking the right steps to effectively solving this crisis”, Snyder said.

“I’m sorry most of all that I let you down”.

Snyder is expected to lay out a plan in his State of the State address later Tuesday.

The deployment of more Michigan National Guard members to the city, increasing the number from more than 70 to about 200.

Dr. Muzammil Ahmed, chairman of the Michigan Muslim Community Council, said his group – as part of a larger secular and religious coalition now forming in Michigan – will stay focused on Flint. He will also release some of his personal emails on the administration’s handling, his critics would say, mishandling of this crisis.

And the governor addressed Flint families directly, saying they “deserve accountability (and) to know that the buck stops here, with me”.

“I’ll tell you what”, she added, “if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would’ve been action”.

MI budget officials are recommending $28 million in supplemental funds for programs to aid Flint during the city’s water crisis.

“This class action is being brought by four very fearless people”, lawyer Michael Pitt said at a meeting in Flint.

“The governor has a business agenda and his business agenda was to take over the water to profit in it”, said Lila Cabbil, a demonstrator from Detroit.

Improperly treated water from the Flint River allowed lead to leach from the pipes, officials said.

He further lambasted state officials who, he alleged, learned of elevated lead levels in children’s blood in 2014 and did nothing.

The fiasco has bruised Snyder, a former venture capitalist and computer executive who took office in 2011 billing himself as a practical decision-maker and a “tough nerd”. So we’re going to work with the state, we’re going to work with Flint.

Last week, thousands of students stayed home over three days as teachers staged a sick-out, an off-the-books strike by teachers who called in sick to their schools in protest over conditions, according to Steve Conn, the labor leader who organized the protest.

“I’m frustrated by the water issue in Flint”, Dennis Muchmore, then chief of staff to Gov. Rick Snyder, wrote in the email to a top health department staffer obtained by NBC News.

The effects of lead exposure and lead poisoning in children can be severe.

“The people of Flint have been betrayed”, said Rev. Jackson at a church rally in Flint Sunday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it acted too slowly to address the situation in Flint.

The crisis began in 2014 when a state-appointed emergency manager switched Flint from Detroit water to Flint River water to save money.