Six Minnesota counties are set to receive state disaster assistance after a year that brought both devastating flooding in the south and destructive wildfires in the north. Gov. Tim Walz authorized the aid for Fillmore, Houston, Steele and Waseca counties following September flooding, and for Cook and Lake counties after July wildfires damaged public infrastructure.
The funding will flow through Minnesota's Disaster Assistance Contingency Account, which as fox9.com reports, helps eligible local governments when disaster expenses exceed what they can cover locally. In the south, Fillmore, Houston, Steele and Waseca counties will receive aid tied to heavy rainfall and flooding that began September 19, which led to mudslides, road closures and damage to homes and other properties across parts of southern Minnesota, according to the same report. In the north, Cook and Lake counties will receive similar aid tied to wildfires that began July 7 and damaged public infrastructure in those areas.
How the Aid Pipeline Works
The total amount of assistance will be determined once all required documents are submitted and recovery work is finished, according to kaaltv.com. That means there's no dollar figure attached to this authorization yet — the state still has to wait on paperwork from local governments and the completion of recovery projects before anyone knows the final cost. As AM 1100 The Flag notes, the newly authorized assistance will help eligible local governments address disaster-related costs that exceed what they have available on their own.
Walz said the assistance builds on work already underway and will help repair critical public infrastructure, per the same fox9.com report. The state's Homeland Security and Emergency Management division has worked with local officials to assess damage and coordinate recovery efforts in the affected counties, that reporting adds.
Wildfire Response Pulled in National Guard, Cross-Border Partners
The July wildfires prompted a more intensive emergency response than the flooding did. During that response, Walz declared and later extended a peacetime emergency, mobilized the Minnesota National Guard, and directed state agencies to coordinate firefighting and emergency operations, according to fox9.com's report. The wildfire response also involved local, state, federal and Canadian partners, and included fire suppression operations and evacuations, per AM 1100 The Flag's account, with state officials working with affected communities and businesses to support recovery after the fires.
This isn't the first time this year that Cook and Lake counties have needed state help with fire damage. Back in July, Walz authorized emergency assistance for areas of Crow Wing and Lake counties that had been damaged by wildfires in May, according to valleynewslive.com. That same report said disaster assistance had also been authorized for Stevens and Grant counties over damage from severe storms in June, with the total amount in that case also left to be determined once damage assessments were complete.
The Legal Framework Behind the Aid
The assistance authorized this week draws on a state program separate from federal disaster relief. Minnesota Statutes chapter 12B establishes a state public-assistance program that provides cost-share assistance to local governments that sustain significant damage on a per-capita basis but are not eligible for federal disaster assistance or corresponding state assistance under chapter 12A, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. That framework is what allows the state to step in for counties whose disaster costs might otherwise fall through the cracks of federal relief programs.
For now, residents and local officials in the six counties know help is coming, even if the exact size of that help remains unsettled. The final funding amount will be established after local governments submit required documentation and recovery work is completed, AM 1100 The Flag reported, a process that mirrors how the state handled the Crow Wing, Lake, Stevens and Grant county assistance earlier this year.
