Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited storm-wracked Bemidji on Tuesday morning to witness the destruction that befell the area last weekend.
After driving past the worst-hit spots in the city, Walz stopped to speak about the devastation and the swift recovery process at a home along East Avenue.
“This is an unprecedented storm that hit right in Beltrami (County) and its surrounding areas,” Walz said, “but I saw a lot of other things. I saw neighbors helping neighbors. I saw professionalism of crews that have restored power to almost every single person. I also saw the grace of God and a lot of preparation by the professionals … with no injuries or loss of life.”
Nearly immediately, state legislators were in contact with county and city officials following the storm, he said.
“We were watching as these storms were developing in North Dakota,” Walz said. “I think alerts were going out once that started to happen … our folks were already activated and calling. There were folks within hours up here starting to do this. This is a process that’s in place. These are the professionals. They extend beyond administration.”
Beltrami County officials have said a survey of the storm damage to buildings, trees and power lines found wind speeds may have reached 120 mph when the storms barreled through early Saturday. That’s equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane. The same weather system spawned tornadoes that were blamed for three deaths in eastern North Dakota.
Both Bemidji and Beltrami County have announced separate emergency declarations that were each extended during separate meetings Monday.
This allowed the state to put together a disaster assistance contingency account that will help the area fund some of the recovery process up to a 75% reimbursement. The state currently has $24 million within the fund and it will refill in October to continually aid the county as long as the emergency persists.
It’s unclear whether federal assistance will be forthcoming or, if it is, whether it will be sufficient.
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