Snyder declared a state of disaster for Houghton and Menominee counties Tuesday, opening the way for state and federal assistance.

“We did a helicopter tour around the area to look at the damage, and there’s some serious damage,” he said. “I appreciate how everyone’s rallied though to help clean things up, and we have more resources on the way.”

Snyder met with local, state and county officials to discuss state recovery efforts. The state has already begun damage assessment efforts and is talking with business owners and families and what damage has been done, he said.

“MDOT’s been doing a lot of work with the highways, hopefully helping beyond just the state highways. I appreciate the great Road Commission work that’s going on by all the departments of public works, from the local governments,” he said. “This is all about partnership. We have the National Guard on the way. They’ll be coming in soon with some heavy equipment to really help expedite this cleanup.”

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette A state delegate including Gov. Rick Snyder, State Sen. Tom Casperson and State Rep. Scott Dianda looks at a sinkhole near Burger King in Houghton Tuesday.

The National Guard was also called out after flash floods in Gogebic County in 2016, which is serving as a template for the Houghton County response.

“We learned a lot of good things, and hopefully we can apply that here with our local partners to say, as we redo things, we look at the question of ‘This could happen again,’ and are there things we can do to prevent it happening again,” he said.

In other flood-related news, a Houghton County boy critically injured when flash flooding collapsed the basement of his family’s home Sunday morning has died.

Thatcher Markham, the son of Rodney and Joanne Markham, died at 11:40 p.m. Monday, according to a GoFundMe page started by Liddy Newman Markham. A post on that same site Tuesday added, “The Markham Family is overwhelmed and grateful for the continued love and support, outreach and prayer from the community and beyond.”

The boy was trapped inside a Houghton Canal Road home when flooding caused the basement walls to give way just before 5 a.m. Sunday, according to the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton City Manager Eric Waara, left, shows Gov. Rick Snyder a sinkhole on Sharon Avenue in Houghton. Snyder declared disaster areas in Houghton and Menominee counties Monday after Sunday’s flash floods.

Markham’s father was able to dig him out of the collapsed debris and perform CPR. Deputies, along with Stanton Township first responders and the father, had to use a neighbor’s boat to transport the boy to the Hancock City boat launch due to the severe flooding and road washouts. He then was transported by Mercy EMS to Portage Hospital, where they were able to get a pulse, and later airlifted to Motts Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.

Those wishing to donate to the fundraising effort for the family can go to www.gofundme.com/thatcher-markham-fundraiser.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton City Manager Eric Waara describes the path of water during Sunday’s flooding to Gov. Rick Snyder during a stop at 5th and Elm in Houghton Tuesday.