Federal Disaster Declaration Expanded to Include Individual Assistance for Minnesotans Impacted by Flooding

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[ST. PAUL, MN] – Governor Tim Walz today announced that Minnesotans in 19 counties working to recover from this year’s flooding can now request individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help recover from losses they suffered. The declaration will provide resources to reimburse individuals and communities for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and repair and replacement of damaged infrastructure.

The following counties are currently part of the declaration: Blue Earth, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Itasca, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Mower, Nicollet, Nobles, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Waseca, and Watonwan. Additional county designations may be added to the declaration if requested and warranted by the results of damage assessments.

Currently, individuals in the declared counties are encouraged to create an application online by visiting disasterassistance.gov. You can also call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362. Specialists are available seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET.

U.S. Small Business Administration issues presidential declarations

The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a presidential declaration for businesses and residents in affected declared counties are eligible to apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administrations.

Click here for more information on the declaration.  

Applications for disaster loans may be submitted online using the MySBA Loan Portal at https://lending.sba.gov or other locally announced locations. Please contact the SBA's Customer Service Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at 1-800-659- 2955 for further assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.​

Disaster Recover Center Opens in Waterville

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A Disaster Recovery Center is now open in Waterville, Minn.

Specialists from FEMA, the state of Minnesota and the U.S. Small Business Administration are at the center to help survivors apply for federal disaster assistance, upload documents, get their questions answered in person, access other types of help that may be available and learn ways to make their property more disaster resistant.

The center will be open at the following location, days and hours:

Waterville City Hall
200 3rd Street South
Waterville, MN 56096
Hours: Mon. – Sun. 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
 

NOTE: This center will be closed Tuesday, August 13 for the election. It will reopen for normal operations the following day.

We will continue to provide updates as more centers are opened near flood impacted communities. 

Incident management team is 'here to help'

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When an emergency hits, it is immediately all hands on deck for local public safety officials. But sometimes, like during the flooding in Jackson County or the aftermath of devastating Iowa tornadoes, they need some extra hands. That's where the All-Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT) comes in.

The AHIMT is a team based in Anoka County whose work is coordinated by our Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) division. HSEM facilitates the team's missions both in Minnesota, such as when the team responded to flooding in Jackson County this summer, and out of state, like when the AHIMT helped Iowa respond to deadly tornados the last week of May.

For more information vist the DPS blog.​