19 Minnesota counties granted federal funding from FEMA after major flood damage

Some good news for Minnesotans in 19 counties who are still working to recover from this year’s flooding .

Following a request by Governor Tim Walz, assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is now available to help those who were affected.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D), who also worked on the aid, explains why there was a delay in the funding.

"A tornado is easy to see. The individual damage these floods, you can't always see it and you need individual citizens to come forward and get the damage documented and take photos of it and the like," Klobuchar explained. And that can take a while."

Klobuchar says the declaration will provide resources to reimburse individuals and communities for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and repair and replacement of damaged infrastructure.

"This is going to be a game changer for so many people that have lost their water heaters or lost their basement," the senator said. "And you might say, 'well, that's small-ball compared to the, you know, major damage, up in Biwabik that they had to the bike trail up there, which was significant. Or some of the roads that were washed out, or bridges that were washed out. But for an individual family, this is everything."

The federal funding is available to affected individuals in Blue Earth, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Itasca, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Mower, Nicollet, Nobles, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Waseca and Watonwan counties.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-interest loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further assessments.

Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance by registering online here , by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA App.