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Gov. Tim Walz surveyed storm damage in Beltrami County Tuesday morning, after weekend storms brought hurricane-force winds and wreaked havoc in Bemidji and neighboring communities, downing trees and leaving thousands without power.
Walz said homeowners and the counties will be taking on significant costs with the recovery work. But he praised the Minnesota Legislature for having established a disaster assistance contingency account that will help with some of the recovery, especially if federal assistance is unavailable or insufficient.
“Once a local disaster declaration, like you saw in Beltrami in Bemidji, is declared… we can go to the state,” he said. “And we can make determinations where we're able to reimburse 75 percent of the cost of the public infrastructure.”
Walz said the disaster assistance contingency account does not cover homes. But he said his administration is researching whether it can be used for residential properties if, for example, downed trees create a public safety issue by blocking fire trucks.
GOP Rep. Bidal Duran echoed the need for additional assistance. He cited Beltrami County’s high poverty rate and limited tax base for funding recovery efforts and said he appreciated Gov. Walz’s presence.
“We need the help as much as possible,” he said. “So I'm going to work with, I'm going to work with Beltrami County, the city of Bemidji and the governor's office to help try to bring all the resources that we can up into our area.”
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