State officials could find out today whether the White House will grant federal assistance to individuals and households in seven southern Minnesota counties hit by storms and flooding the third week of September. Governor Mark Dayton appealed after FEMA rejected his request for individual assistance. The governor says without help, 15-hundred homes across southern Minnesota will be uninhabitable this winter because they will not be properly heated. Dayton says desperate homeowners have turned to dangerous heating methods, increasing risk of house fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. He says non-standard heating is suspected in at least two house fires. President Obama approved federal assistance earlier to repair public infrastructure. The governor wants disaster assistance for individuals in Blue Earth, Freeborn, Hennepin, Le Sueur, Rice, Steele and Waseca counties.