Politics & Government

Timeline: How Fridley Tornado Got Federal Disaster Status

The presidential declaration came 2-1/2 weeks after the tornado.

Here are some of the milestones along the way to Fridley's inclusion in the presidential disaster declaration for the May 22 tornado:

May 22:

  • rips , from , and Minneapolis in Hennepin County and Blaine in Anoka County.
  • The City of Fridley and other local governments and aid organizations launch emergency response efforts as well as cleanup and recovery work.

May 23:

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  • in Fridley industrial areas and neighborhoods along with Mayor Scott Lund. Ellison vows to press FEMA for federal aid.
  • The approves a plan to from the storm in and provide a debris drop-off site. 

May 26:

  • Fridley Mayor Scott Lund discusses the tornado damage in Fridley by phone with U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

May 27:

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  • visit the Minneapolis Emergency Operations Center in Fridley. Klobuchar also tours the Minneapolis Water Plant in Fridley's southwest corner along with Mayor Lund and Anoka County Commission Chair Rhonda Sivarajah.
  • The is the site for a meeting of staff from FEMA and the state Department of Public Safety's Division of Homeland Security  with City of Fridley department heads.
  • A FEMA assessment team reviews Fridley's onsite clearing of debris and .
  • Gov. Mark Dayton sends a letter requesting federal aid for Hennepin and Anoka counties to help pay for public costs related to the tornado. 

May 31:

  • The City of Fridley begins its final sweep of streetside pickups of wood debris. Collection at the Columbia Arena drop-off site continues.

June 3:

  • Fridley Director of Public Safety Don Abbott participates in a conference call with officials from FEMA, aides to Sens. Franken and Klobuchar, and staff from the state and county government as well as the Red Cross. Abbott reports via email to city departments heads on Monday: "There is no formal update from FEMA yet, but the language they used was that they 'anticipate' a presidential declaration for our storm. The typical time frame is about 3 weeks for such a declaration, but the number of disasters this spring—the SE floods and the number of large tornados over the past 6 weeks will likely extend that time estimate. Our prospects are good for public assistance reimbursement but virtually non-existent for individual assistance."

June 7:


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