“The city is still billing residents for the contaminated water being pumped to their homes and expecting immediate payment”, said Sylvia Orduno of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization.
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According to a Fox News report, over 180,000 bottles will be sent to the city beginning Monday.
The emergency declaration will now make available $5m (£3.5m) in federal funding.
“I appreciate the president approving my federal emergency request and supporting Flint during this critical situation”, Mr Snyder said in a statement. “Together with Cher, we also hope to raise awareness to help get the families of Flint the assistance they need during this hard time”.
“This is a tragedy of staggering proportion and shocking that it’s happening in the middle of our country”.
Mlive.com recently posted a timeline of the Flint water crisis, which can be viewed by following this link. Early warning signs of the water’s contamination-residents complained of a unusual taste and smell, and a doctor reported high levels of lead in children’s blood-were ignored by public officials.
The White House issued a release Saturday calling for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to “alleviate the hardship and suffering” on residents.
His legacy surely will include the regulatory failures that led to the state’s underwhelming response to the disaster.
The move came after a plea for help from Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, who has come under intense pressure to explain why the full extent of the disaster took so long to come to light after one of his appointees decided in 2014 to supply the cith with water from the Flint River that was so corrosive it began scouring the lead from ageing service pipes, exposing the entire population to lead poisoning.
In a statement, Sanders said Snyder knew about the lead in Flint’s water but did nothing.
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As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Karen Weaver, the mayor of Flint, declared a state of emergency in December. Additionally, Attorney General Bill Schuette will also look into the matter to determine if any environmental laws were broken or if there was any wrongdoing by government officials.
