Escanaba seeks state disaster relief after March blizzard
The Delta County Road Commission works its way through the aftermath of the biggest single snow event in recent history. (Delta County Road Commission photo)
A pickup truck with attached plow sits abandoned on Ludington Street with snowdrifts growing around it. (Courtesy photo)
A walkway carved up to a house on South Seventh Street in Escanaba shows the depth of the snow on the morning of Tuesday, March 17. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
The Delta County Road Commission works its way through the aftermath of the biggest single snow event in recent history. (Delta County Road Commission photo)
A pickup truck with attached plow sits abandoned on Ludington Street with snowdrifts growing around it. (Courtesy photo)
A walkway carved up to a house on South Seventh Street in Escanaba shows the depth of the snow on the morning of Tuesday, March 17. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
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ESCANABA -- More than four months after the blizzard buried Escanaba under record snowfall, city officials are now looking to the state to help cover the costs of a response they say placed an extraordinary strain on local resources.
On Thursday, the Escanaba City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city to apply for a grant from the State Disaster Contingency Fund.
According to the resolution, the City of Escanaba sustained severe financial losses of major proportions brought on by the blizzard event of March 15 to 16 of this year, resulting in an extraordinary amount of overtime needed to remove the snow from public roadways, parking lots and city facilities, as well as equipment failures due to the volume of snow.
The city’s disaster-related expenses totaled $72,997.74, creating what the resolution describes as an unreasonably great financial burden.
The resolution also authorizes City Controller and Interim City Manager Melissa Becotte to execute the city’s application for financial assistance.
Becotte told the council the resolution was required in order to submit the city’s request for reimbursement of the March blizzard-related expenses.
The storm’s impacts lingered for weeks in Escanaba and across the region, with road crews working long hours to keep streets clear and safe for the traveling public.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the historic winter storm moved into the Upper Midwest the evening of Saturday, March 14 and continued to impact the region through the morning of Monday, March 16.
20 inches of heavy snow fell Saturday night into Sunday morning along a band north of Interstate 90, according to the NWS. Additional heavy snowfall of 6 to 12 inches fell across southwest and central Wisconsin by Monday morning.
The storm also forced temporary closures of Interstates 35, 80 and 94. In Escanaba, road crews worked for days to clear snow from major roads and residential streets, where they encountered abandoned vehicles left stranded in the middle of the roadway.
The city will now await the state's review of its application.
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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.