Cleanup continues after Minnesota's summer of storms

Summer is over, but the cleanup from this summer's storms goes on.

Week after week, storm after storm, the state was walloped by tornadoes, floods, high winds and torrential rains. As damage estimates roll in from communities across Minnesota, the state has steered millions of dollars to communities with washed-out roads, battered public infrastructure and big repair bills.

In Waseca, where September flash floods washed out county roads, submerged cars, swamped basements and left the city ice rink soaking in half a foot of water, damage assessment teams were out last week with inspectors from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, trying to determine whether the damage was grounds for a federal disaster declaration, and the federal aid that comes with it. They found residents struggling to repair furnaces and water heaters in their flooded basements, with winter approaching.

"We met people who have to make a choice between [repairing] a water heater or the furnace," said Waseca City Manager Danny Lenz, who expects the storm damage to run to millions of dollars for the community and its residents. "We don't want a flood crisis to turn into a public health crisis."

Already, Minnesota has steered an estimated $9.75 million from its disaster contingency account to help 22 counties and five tribal nations recover from this summer's monster storms. Four more counties and another tribe have requested state aid for more recent storms.

Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management has teamed up with FEMA to assess 10 counties swamped by torrential rains in September. The damage from those storms was so severe, the region could qualify for federal disaster assistance. Blue Earth, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Le Sueur, Rice, Sibley, Steele and Waseca are all in line for possible federal disaster aid.

Elsewhere in the state, the cleanup continues long after the skies clear.

Like the summer storms, the state's damage assessments and aid awards keep coming.

Local governments use the State Disaster Assistance Fund to recover some of their storm losses. The emergency fund was set up to help communities that suffer calamities that don't meet the threshold to qualify for federal disaster assistance, and under state law, counties must cover 25 percent of cleanup costs themselves while state aid covers the rest.

Dayton issued a disaster declaration for Watkins in late August and the community will have a year to assess and report the storm damage, Kramer said. And while the state funding will help, the biggest boost to Watkins after the storm came from its own citizens, who immediately rushed in to help their friends and neighbors dig out and rebuild.

"We had an overwhelming response," Kramer said. Within hours of the storm, the city was teeming with volunteers and work crews dragging away debris and sharing supplies with anyone who needed help. "Everyone just kind of pitched in."

Jennifer Brooks • 612-673-4008