Gov. Walz travels to Bemidji area to survey damage from hurricane-force winds
Gov. Tim Walz traveled to northern Minnesota on Tuesday to assess damage in Beltrami County after a weekend of damaging storms that brought hurricane-force winds.
The Bemidji area is seeing widespread damage, with meteorologists saying straight-line winds carved a 10-mile path through downtown Bemidji and in the southern Lake Bemidji Area.
Walz praised those who sent out the early alerts.
"Notifications went out to people 20 minutes in advance for the last one," said Walz. "That is incredible work by the forecasters who get us information."
"Sunday morning, tears came to my eyes," said , president of Bemidji State University and North Technical College.
Hoffman says BSU and NTC were in the direct line of the storm. While no one was injured, he tells WCCO the damage is hard to grasp. Mobile labs were blown over and destroyed, some small buildings connected to the athletic facilities were lost, windows were blown out and countless trees were torn and scattered across campus.
"I've had been reminded that this is an act of the land, and the land has been here for thousands of years. It has a story to tell. We will come back strong," Hoffman said.
BSU will remain closed through the week and NTC will remain closed through Wednesday. Hoffman is hopeful people will be able to work remotely. All classes will move online.
"Our story is not defined by the storm, and so I'm so grateful for the people of Bemidji, our alumni, employees, our students. They're all coming together in some powerful ways," he said.
Hoffman says it's meaningful to see the community come together in this difficult time. United Way of Bemidji Area is one organization helping lead recovery efforts
"The storm is something I've never seen before. The effect it's had on our community, a lot of it looks like a war zone," said Denae Alamano, executive director of the United Way of Bemidji Area.
Meanwhile, Walz says if they don't reach the FEMA threshold needed for assistance, the state will kick in with the disaster assistance contingency account to help get the community back on its feet.
"There's going to be significant costs to the counties, and there's going to be the impacts to homeowners, hoping that their individual insurance helps with that," said Walz. "This is a case where all Minnesota joins together."
Alamano says they're still assessing needs and talking with partner agencies to make disaster recovery happen. She says some organizations are without bridges, making replacing food or finding ways to feed clientele difficult.
She anticipates a food bank or a mobile food drop for people in the area will need to happen.
"I'm really grateful so many different fire departments have come around and helped, a lot of other community organizations coming to help our community," Alamano said. "There's some magic in Bemidji when everybody works together, and I'm grateful to see that happening. We know there's a lot of needs, and we're just, we're here to try to help."
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