Isanti County declares 'state of emergency' to deal with wind damage

Isanti County declared a state of emergency as part of a special meeting of the Isanti County Board of Commissioners held Tuesday, Sept. 24.

The decision was in response to damage caused by violent storms which hit the county on Monday, Aug. 26. Isanti County Emergency Manager Clinton Maxson said the damage was focused on the south edge of the county, notably Bradford, Isanti and Spencerbrook townships, with lesser damage found in Athens, Springvale and Stamford townships as well as the cities of Isanti and Cambridge.

“If we declare [a state of emergency] and nothing happens, then ‘no harm, no foul,’” Maxson said. “The downside is if we don’t take action.”

The threshold for damages is determined by a formula where the county's population (Isanti County is currently at 41,135) is multiplied by $4.60, and that total is halved. If the damages surpass that total -- for Isanti County, the damage total would be $94,610.50 -- the county is eligible for state of emergency status.

With the state of emergency decision, the county would be responsible for 25% of those damage payments, while the state would pay the remaining 75%.

Maxson said the county used its Facebook page to encourage residents to sign up for the county’s mass notification system and also input any damages to their property.

“We had about 36 entries, 35 of which were residential and one was a business,” he said. “Most of them – 19 of them – were considered minor, but 12 of them were considered major. …

“The ‘individual assistance’ piece would handle damages beyond those covered by insurance. … We know we’re not capturing everyone, so additional [reports] could come up. … Anderson Park was included, but we’re still waiting for a couple of townships to provide some numbers, so we expect those numbers to rise.”

The request needed to be made within 30 days from the incident.

Maxson said the good news was that there was little to no damage to the county’s infrastructure.

“It was mainly downed trees and downed power lines and some damages to some homes,” he said.

The commissioners unanimously approved the proposal; just before that vote was taken, Maxson said he would reach out to his liaison with the Minnesota Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to get their response to the proposal by the end of the day.