Walz: Winter storm was ‘pretty catastrophic’
"If you have power at your house, the snow is going to be melted probably by tomorrow or whatever, so it appears like nothing really happened, but this was pretty catastrophic," he said, noting power outages had wide-ranging impacts from personal medical needs to large-scale farming operations.
Walz was in
Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services CEO
As of Saturday morning, only two towns remained completely cutoff from power --
"Then, what remains is the tougher rural areas," he said, noting the co-op's 25 linemen are being augmented by 125 others on loan from utility providers in four states.
In addition to linemen,
"We're still committed to the mission," said Maj.
Capt.
"We do not have a plethora of bodies to draw from," he said.
Walz said the decision to deploy the
"If it's coming from you, and you are telling us you need it, we're right there," he told the sheriffs and other county officials gathered at the
With the deployment came a state emergency declaration, which will trigger support for covering costs related to the storm.
"This will be very expensive," Krueger said. "We haven't even begun to estimate it."
Walz said a past storm points to a cost of roughly,
However, what that would cover is unclear.
Krueger said it could be "in the ballpark" of the entire cost related to the storm, but
He said the impact is compounded by earlier flooding and other weather events, which he said he'll include in a report to the
Walz said he also hopes to pitch the need for a national declaration to
Kelly said funds will be found to support the local effort.
"There will be help, whether
Walz said the help that has already arrived and the financial assistance that is expected is typical for the state, where neighbors help neighbors.
"It's not misplaced pride," he said. "
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