Top Minnesota Officials To Survey Flood Damage
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota elected officials are headed out to gauge damage from widespread flooding caused by sustained, heavy rains.
Gov. Mark Dayton planned to join Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz on Friday in assessing damage in southern Minnesota, where many areas have swollen lakes and rivers and flooded fields. In some places, roads have been washed out or covered by sliding mud.
Dayton earlier surveyed problems in northern Minnesota, where some lakes are at record highs. Flooding problems also exist in and around the Twin Cities.
A state of emergency has been declared in 35 counties. An emergency operation center is fully operational, which typically precedes federal disaster requests. The state has a new $3 million disaster response fund, but that might not be enough as damage mounts.
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