MI governor expected to devote speech to water crisis

President Obama signed off on an emergency declaration and set aside $5 million over the next 90 days for Flint, an amount many locals have said is not enough.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House is appointing a Health and Human Services Department official to lead federal efforts to help the city of Flint, Michigan, deal with its water crisis. But when studies have shown lead levels in Flint’s water being 10 times higher than previously measured, it can’t be good.

Snyder is likely to call on the legislature to approve a package of aid for Flint that includes ongoing water testing, testing for children and adults as well as monies to prevent water shutoffs. She slammed Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder for failing to respond to the crisis quickly enough, noting that she went on television to publicly pressure him. They say what happened in Flint is an indictment of the GOP’s promise to run government like a business.

Snyder thanked Obama for the emergency declaration and for “supporting Flint during this critical situation” in a statement Saturday, but said an additional request for a major disaster declaration was denied. “I gotta think five years from now, that anything at any point can mess with they brain or alter them in a way”, she said. “She has been the only candidate, Democratic or Republican, to reach out and ask, ‘What can I do?'” Weaver said, adding that she wants “a friend like Hillary in the White House”.

Fellow Republican Marco Rubio said, “it’s just not an issue we’ve been quite frankly fully briefed or apprised of, in terms of the role the governor has played and the state has played in MI on these sorts of issues”.

At the end of Sunday night’s debate, Clinton said every American “should be outraged” by what is happening in Flint, a predominantly poor and African-American community.

“I challenge you to come and take charge, and bring water”, Lewis said.

Snyder told the Journal that the Flint water crisis is “clearly a negative on what we’ve accomplished since I’ve become governor”.

Why it matters: Given the interplay of public health, race and economic inequality, the Flint crisis is ripe for political discussion. And one of the city’s most famed sons, filmmaker Michael Moore, calling for the governor of MI to be arrested.

Tisha Houston and her son Kaden want to hear answers from Snyder tonight.

The crisis began in 2014 when an emergency manager appointed by the governor to administer the financially troubled city in place of the elected government switched Flint from Detroit water to Flint river water to save money. The corrosive river water damaged aging pipes, which leached lead into the drinking water.