Gov. Rick Snyder, addressing the water crisis in Flint and his own political crisis, called on Tuesday for the Michigan National Guard to assist with distributing supplies at the five water resource sites in the city.
“As we work to ensure that all Flint residents have access to clean and safe drinking water, we are providing them with the direct assistance they need in order to stretch our resources further,” Snyder said in a statement “The Michigan National Guard is trained and ready to assist the citizens of Flint.”
A press release from the governor says:
Members of the National Guard are expected to start arriving in Flint as early as Wednesday to assist with response efforts and plan to increase to over 30 personnel by Friday. The support of the National Guard will enable American Red Cross volunteers, who have been staffing the water resource sites since Jan. 9, to join the efforts of the water resource teams going door to door in Flint neighborhoods to distribute bottled water, water filters, replacement cartridges and testing kits.
Snyder also on Tuesday requested support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate an interagency recovery plan with other federal agencies to provide resources to Flint, the press release said
The governor's office says FEMA will identify federal agencies with programs and expertise to help residents.
