3 Minnesota counties remain in limbo over aid for storm damage

After heavy rains in June, a large section of Upper D Street in Mendota cracked. Officials in the tiny Dakota Co. town worried the crack could lead to a landslide that would endanger homes 100 feet below. So they closed the street, commissioned an engineering study and applied for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But FEMA officials questioned whether the cracked road is a direct result of the storms.

"For us, there was no evidence of any future catastrophic things that might occur, which is what did occur in June," said Mendota Mayor Brian Mielke. "We couldn't have foreseen that or prevented it."

Previously:
•In Scott County, flooding, frustration rise together
•St. Paul emergency, Stillwater bridge closing, insurance help
•In tiny Mendota, fear that a landslide will get bigger

The city would need at least $1 million to rebuild and reinforce Upper D Street. Its total budget is $200,000.

"You think that's what FEMA is there for, is for federal emergencies and this is as bad as an emergency as we've had in a long time in the city of Mendota," Mielke said.

Dakota, Hennepin and Ramsey counties are still waiting to find out if they'll qualify for federal aid after storms earlier this summer caused widespread flooding. Gov. Mark Dayton and members of Minnesota's congressional delegation are urging the feds to change that.

Standing water has kept emergency managers from assessing the damage to roads and other public infrastructure in many areas. And disputes between the state and FEMA are also slowing the process, says Kris Eide, the state's emergency management director. She says that's the case in Mendota and the landslide near the University of Minnesota's Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis.

"There's difference of interpretation on why they failed at that particular time," she said. "And some question on whose property it actually is and the whole impact of that on, not only on the road below in the case of Minneapolis, but the impact to the hospital. Those are the things we are trying to work out with FEMA."

Each county has to hit certain damage dollar amounts using a population-based formula to be eligible for a disaster declaration.

Eide says for Hennepin, Ramsey and Dakota counties to hit those marks the two mudslides and flood damage involving the St. Paul Port Authority terminal must be included.

FEMA Spokesman Dan Shulman would not comment on specifics, but spoke generally about the federal agency's approach.

"By law, FEMA cannot pay for damage that is not related to the specific incident," he said. "It is an issue we work with in every disaster to make sure that we are identifying only those damages that were directly attributable to the incident. When there are disagreements, we sit down, we work together and resolve them."

Last week Gov. Dayton wrote a letter to President Obama asking that six more counties and a tribal government be added to the disaster declaration. Three of those counties, Wright, Lyon, Watonwan, and Bois Forte Band of Chippewa in Koochiching County, were added Thursday.

Next Wednesday is the deadline for the state to ask for Hennepin, Ramsey and Dakota counties to be added. To date, FEMA has approved 35 counties and three tribal communities for the declaration.