BEMIDJI — Gov. Tim Walz traveled to Bemidji Tuesday, June 24, to assess damage and cleanup efforts after hurricane-strength winds wrought a path of destruction early Saturday morning.
Walz was joined by city and county leaders in neighborhoods on the east side of Lake Bemidji, where many towering pines are now reduced to brush piles.
"In the time that we're feeling in Minnesota and kind of the trauma we're going through, to see a community respond like this lifts everyone's spirits," Walz said. "This was a horrific storm. This could take us down. But what you're seeing here is that sense of resiliency."
Walz said the state’s disaster relief fund could cover up to 75% of the cost of repairing public infrastructure.
"There's going to be significant cost to the communities, 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," Walz said. "But this is a case where all Minnesota joins together."
Beltrami County Board Chair Craig Gaasvig, who also serves on the board of Beltrami Electric Cooperative, noted 500 cooperative members were still without power as of Tuesday morning.
“Seventy-five percent of our Beltrami Electric lines are underground, so thankfully it's a lot less than what Otter Tail had to deal with in the city limits,” Gaasvig said.
Around 2,000 Otter Tail Power customers within city limits were still without power Tuesday morning. The company says "more-complex-than-expected repairs” were needed. Power in most remaining areas is expected to be restored by Tuesday night.
The Beltrami County Board extended the state of emergency at a special meeting on Monday for 30 days, and the Bemidji City Council unanimously extended a state of emergency for another two weeks.
Beltrami County Administrator Tom Barry said the county does not have the resources to pick up residents’ tree debris from rights-of-way. But the city and Northern Township are offering pick up for debris with 8-foot or smaller branches. Debris can also be dropped off at Beltrami’s demolition landfill or at a new remote site that opened up behind Target on Tuesday.
The United Way of Bemidji Area is coordinating resources and volunteers for people in need, and the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce has a list of credentialed tree removal specialists.
