The state of Michigan will spend up to $7.4 million to help Upper Peninsula communities qualify for federal matching funds available to address damage from June flooding.
Gov. Rick Snyder announced the move Friday.
Local agencies must match 25 percent of funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Snyder had previously announced that the state would cover half of that 25 percent. Now it will cover all 25 percent, which the governor's office says is unprecedented.
Snyder says public agencies in Gogebic, Houghton and Menominee counties sustained nearly $30 million in damages that are eligible for public assistance relief, and now the communities will not have as big a burden on their budgets from the natural disaster.