Gov. Walz Travels to Iron Range to Survey Flooding and Storm Damage

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says the state stands ready to support those affected by floods in northeast Minnesota this week.

Walz traveled to the Iron Range today to survey the flooding and storm damage. Close to eight inches of rain fell near the city of Cook on Tuesday, swelling the Little Fork River and causing massive flooding problems.

Gov. Walz, who spoke with residents and business owners there, called it pretty devastating.

“One of our biggest concerns right now is – we didn’t get anybody hurt or injured in the actual incident. Now we need to be really careful, be careful if we’re working around a lot of heavy equipment, we’re working around a lot of water and things. There’s going to be a lot of electronics. And we also have to worry about the health issues that come on with it. Physical health with dirty water. We got to start thinking about disinfecting, getting that carpet out.”

But besides the physical toil involved in cleanup and repairs, Walz also spoke to the emotional toll it will take on residents.

“But I just want to make – to tell everybody here, this initial part hits and then this is going to be weeks of recovery and things that you have to do. The mental aspect of this is, keep an eye on each other. Think about this. This is very emotional. Folks have lost all of the things they own. They have lost precious keepsakes from their children when they were in kindergarten. Those things are all real. And we’ve seen this in these before. We need to keep an eye on folks. But I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the response that’s been here.”

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar released a statement today saying she is working closely with officials throughout the state and that all public infrastructure damage “is being documented, so that if and when the federal threshold for FEMA disaster relief is reached, that relief will be delivered quickly.”

Walz also visited Biwabik, where several sections of the Mesabi Bike Trail were washed out and where a large washout severed the water supply headed to the Giants Ridge and Voyageurs Retreat areas. Water has been restored, but those areas are still under a water boil order.

St. Louis County declared a state of emergency yesterday and said that early estimates placed the storm damage in the county at $50 million. More than 40 roads throughout the county have been washed out or flooded.