Governor Mark Dayton is asking President Trump to declare 28 counties and three tribal nations a federal disaster area, after a succession of storms and flooding hit northeast, northwest and southwest Minnesota from mid June into July. Dayton says, “We had townships in the area when I visited whose repair on county roads was greater than their annual operating budget. I’ve never seen flooding like that, all over, in such a widespread, disparate area of the state.”
If the White House grants Dayton’s request, it would make federal dollars available to help local governments repair damaged infrastructure.
Governor Dayton is requesting federal assistance to help cover reimbursement for damage expenses in the counties of Aitkin, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Brown, Carlton, Cass, Clearwater, Cottonwood, Faribault, Itasca, Jackson, Kanabec, Koochiching, Lake, Lyon, Martin, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pine, Pipestone, Polk, Redwood, Renville, Rock, St. Louis, Sibley, and Watonwan, and the tribal governments of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Red Lake Nation, and White Earth Nation.