Politics & Government

President Includes Fridley in Tornado Disaster Declaration

Federal aid with local-government costs covers Hennepin, Anoka counties.

President Obama declared Tuesday that the May 22 tornado that struck Fridley was a federal disaster. That allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to release federal funds to help cover cleanup and other costs.

(See also Timeline: How Fridley Tornado Got Federal Disaster Status.)

The president's declaration covers Hennepin and Anoka counties for public assistance—that is, for local government expenses. Cities and the counties can apply to recover 75 percent or more of their costs for:

Find out what's happening in Fridleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • "repairing or replacing damaged public facilities, such as roads, bridges, utilities, buildings, schools, recreational areas and similar publicly owned property"
  • "removing debris from public areas and for emergency measures taken to save lives and protect property and public health"
  • "hazard mitigation projects undertaken by state and local governments to prevent or reduce long-term risk to life and property."

The state of Minnesota also asked for federal assistance to individuals, but only for individuals in Hennepin County. That request is still pending.

Here is the text of the FEMA announcement of the presidential declaration:

Find out what's happening in Fridleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

From FEMA on Tuesday:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to Minnesota a [sic] to supplement the state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and tornadoes during the period of May 21-22, 2011. 

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and tornadoes in Anoka and Hennepin Counties.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties within the state. 

Paul J. Ricciuti has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.  Ricciuti said that additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Fridley