Snyder activates National Guard in Flint, seeks federal help

State emergency officials distribute bottled water Tuesday in Flint, Michigan.

Genesee County sheriff’s Capt. Casey Tafoya said Tuesday that he hoped the teams would get to 500 to 600 houses per day.

Testing conducted by state and local researchers past year found that the proportion of infants and children with above-average levels of lead in their blood has almost doubled since the switch was made.

Rick Snyder was in Flint Monday to address charges that the state was aware of the danger created in April 2014 after the city’s water supply source was switched from Lake Huron to the more polluted and corrosive Flint River.

Jake May/AP Flint resident Andrew Watson (back right) drops to the floor in tears as Flint police stand guard at the City Council chamber doors on Monday. Had there been democratic input, it’s likely state officials would have been reminded of a report the city commissioned in 2011 on the suitability of the Flint River as a long-term water source.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Lemott Thomas carries free water being distributed at the Lincoln Park United Methodist Church in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.

Some members of the Guard were expected to arrive as soon as Wednesday after the Republican governor activated the reserves late Tuesday.

“Residents of the impoverished City of Flint pay some of the highest water bills in MI”.

“FEMA has approved Gov. Snyder’s request for assistance and has appointed a Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator to support the state”, FEMA spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said in a late Tuesday tweet. Lead exposure can impair both mental and physical development in children, sometimes causing “profound and permanent adverse health effects”, according to the World Health Organization.

The paper said that the troops would take over distribution sites now being manned by American Red Cross volunteers, allowing the volunteers to begin door-to-door operations.

The city’s water supply is contaminated with toxic levels of lead, and residents are unable to drink the water that comes through their taps.

Edwards said city and state officials failed to implement proper corrosion control when it began taking untreated water from the Flint River, causing lead from aged pipes to seep into the water.

“We see the consequences of lead poisoning a lot later”, Hanna-Attisha, told ABC News last month.

Despite Snyder activating the National Guard, Congressman Dan Kildee, a Flint Democrat, renewed his earlier calls for a request for federal financial aid for Flint, “due to the lack of a sufficient response from the state”.