Advertisement
“The state has some resources,” Molnau said at the Winona County Government Center. “Will it be enough? Probably not.”
 |
Timothy Marx, left, MInnesota Housing Finance Agency, and Brad Moore, right, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, speak with Terry Erickson, executive director of SEMCAC, at LaCanne Memorial Park in Goodview Monday. The state officials were touring Lake Goodview as well as surrounding communities damaged by flooding.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
Flood victims in southeast Minnesota still wonder whether state or federal agencies will step forward to rebuild housing, provide temporary shelter, rebuild damaged roads and address environmental concerns. On Monday, Gov. Tim Pawlenty revised the amount of damages to $67 million in seven Minnesota counties.
The leader of Minnesota’s emergency management agency, Kris Eide, agreed Monday with Molnau’s assessment that state resources are “limited” in those efforts.
“I don’t think there’s the resources in the current state appropriations for these kinds of things, for what the people affected need,” Eide said. “We need to match up what exists, and then if something needs to be done, that’s up to the Legislature and the governor.”
Eide said “longer-term temporary housing” is the top priority for her agency, which held a special meeting Monday in St. Paul. Eide said the lack of rental-housing availability is a concern.
“The housing stock in rural Minnesota isn’t that dense,” she said.
Molnau wouldn’t commit when asked if legislative action would be necessary to help flood victims, saying more thorough assessments of the damage are needed. Molnau said she’s not yet certain how long such an assessment would take.
“Do we need a special session? I don’t know,” Molnau said. “We need to know what we’re asking for before we go into session.
“We don’t want to miss something.”
For now, Minnesota officials emphasized they will follow the lead of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies.
“We will be filling in the gaps behind FEMA,” said Tim Marx, commissioner of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. The state agency can provide low-interest loans to flood victims, but looks to FEMA to provide temporary housing or grants to displaced residents, Marx said.
Officials from state environmental and housing agencies accompanied Molnau on Monday morning to tour damaged portions of Goodview, Minnesota City and Stockton.
Preliminary estimates indicate that anywhere between 1,500 and 4,200 homes were damaged in the disaster. Federal inspectors say public infrastructure suffered roughly $26 million in damages.
A MnDOT spokesperson said Monday repairs will be needed on “every trunk highway in Houston County and parts of Winona and Fillmore counties.”
Highways 14, 16, 26 and 74 have been pummeled by mud and gravel slides and shoulder washouts, the spokesperson said. Flooding also forced the closure of a bridge on Highway 76 and seriously damaged Highway 74 near Whitewater Park.
Molnau hopes those roads can be repaired by this fall.
Brad Moore, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said Monday’s tour would include Lake Goodview, which had to be drained last week after it flooded 150 apartment units. City officials believe the flood water is polluted, though Moore said it’s not yet clear whether the lake will need to be decontaminated.
Marx urged mortgage lenders to be lenient with flood victims.
“Our expectation is that banks … will understand these situations,” Marx said.
However, Eide acknowleged that loan forgiveness on flooded properties “didn’t happen very much in (Hurricane) Katrina. I don’t know what kind of leverage, if any, the state of Minnesota would have.”
Eide urged victims to register with FEMA to demonstrate the level and types of need for housing assistance.
“I think it’s really incumbent on the communities to determine what their needs are,” Eide said.
