North Dakota Flooding --- Governor Hoeven Asks for Help

NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 18, 2010



Contact: Don Canton or Lance Gaebe

(701) 328-2200



HOEVEN REQUESTS PDA FOR WARD COUNTY FLOODING

Counties in Existing Disaster Declaration May Also Be Eligible



BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. John Hoeven today requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conduct a preliminary damage assessment for flood damages to public infrastructure in Ward County as a result of Thursday’s heavy rains. The Ward County Commission this morning issued an Emergency Declaration in the aftermath of the storm.



If the damages reach a dollar threshold of approximately $190,000, Ward County could be added to the existing Federal Disaster Declaration for spring flooding, which was approved on March 14. Funding is already available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations under the current federal declaration on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the flooding in the designated counties.



Counties already included in that declaration may also be eligible to recover losses through state and federal sources as a result of the recent rains. Counties already included in the declaration are Barnes, Benson, Cass, Dickey, Emmons, Foster, Grand Forks, LaMoure, Logan, Mercer, Morton, Nelson, Pembina, Ramsey, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, Stutsman, Traill, Walsh, and Wells and the portions of the Spirit Lake Reservation that lie within these counties.



There were many reports of high winds, tornado sightings and consequent damage across North Dakota, but fortunately there are currently no reports of injury. The rural areas that were impacted are scattered throughout much of the state, with the most widely reported tornado activity in Grand Forks and Walsh counties.



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