North Shore residents and businesses had a rude awakening Wednesday morning following an evening of relentless rains that amounted to over 7 inches in some places in less than 24 hours across the Arrowhead region. The recent storm has left homes damaged, people stranded, roads, bridges and trails washed out and closed.
The Lake County Board of Commissioners has signed a Local Emergency Declaration at their weekly board meeting on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The Declaration allows additional funding sources and resources from State and Federal assets, should they become available.
On Friday afternoon, rescue crews were able to extract vacationers from the Finland area after bridges and roads made the area inaccessible. Three people located on Correll Road off Hwy 1 found themselves in a unique predicament when they awoke Wednesday morning, having two bridges wash away overnight left them, quite literally, on an island.
“There was no other way to get to these folks. There was no good location to land a helicopter. We looked into getting an extending ladder truck from Two Harbors to get over the river and that wasn’t long enough. There was just no good way to get to these individuals. The only other way was to take a parallel path and try to intersect Correll Road, and that’s what we ended up doing,” commented Jessie Walters, a member of the Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue squad.
Finland Search and Rescue took old hunting and logging trails that no one’s been on for over a decade to reach the trapped individuals. “It was a lot of bushwhacking to get up there,” said Jessie. Thankfully, no one was injured and made it out healthy and unharmed.
(Lake County Search and Rescue is looking for more volunteers to join and train. If you are interested, please visit the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue on Facebook to find out more.)
Breezy Lane off the Hefflefinger Road and the intersection of Hefflefinger and Hwy 1 have been called “ground zero” of the flood in Crystal Bay Township. Bob Buus, owner of Our Place restaurant in Finland, was down by the river around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening and said the river had not yet breached the retaining wall. He thought maybe with the rain the water would get up to the steps of the cabins, but not inside the cabins. Unfortunately, he was wrong and the water continued to rise into the early morning. 80 percent of the retaining wall has since washed down the river.
At around 3:00-4:00 a.m., the Baptism River swelled and flooded the restaurant’s rental cabins with over 18 inches of water, and the establishment’s basement with 28 inches of water. The basement is where the business keeps all the mechanicals for freezers, coolers, ice makers, water heaters, etc.
“We’ve had water up to the cabins, but never in them. It’s a disaster. There’s no other word for it. I don’t know what we’re going to do. I believe we sustained at least $250,000 worth of damage, and I can’t take that out of my back pocket. We are assessing things, it depends on what help we are able to get. We already had one dumpster full of losses, the second one’s here, and I know I’ll fill that one shortly,” Buus stated.
“We had one resident stuck in his cabin that couldn’t get out because his 10×20 deck was gone. He went to crawl out the back window, but couldn’t get out because the water was rushing around all sides of his home…” A large tree that was downed in the storm crashed into the bridge on Hwy 1. “That shook the whole neighborhood.” The resident who was stuck in his cabin during the flood said he heard and felt that tree when it hit the bridge.
The newly remodeled cabins will now most likely have to be gutted. “The main thing is that nobody got hurt or killed and that’s a god sent,” commented Buss, Our Place owner.
Community members have really come together to support each other in the ways they are able. Lots of helping hands, but there’s only so much that can be done with manpower and limited resources/funds.
It’s been one hard year after another for local small businesses on the North Shore. Not only this last devastating storm, but this past winter without adequate snow to cover snowmobile trails, business was down 80 percent for many. There was flooding the spring before last which damaged trails and business, and before that it was COVID!
If you would like to donate to Our Place go fund me for help with recovery costs, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/100yrs-of-history-at-our-place-in-finland-mn
The Crystal Bay Township Clerk and Road Maintenance went out and took pictures of everything throughout the last several days since the storm. They are evaluating both township and citizen damages.
Their first step: Assess immediate impact. Once the water recedes, assess impact again, document everything and turn it into the county who will then turn the documentation in to the state.
The threshold per county is $44,000 of damages before they can qualify to be categorized as a disaster. At the time of this article being written, Crystal Bay Township has estimated $110,000 just in gravel alone for road repairs. The DNR estimates $262,000 in damages have been sustained just in Lake County. “We are definitely way over the threshold for a disaster declaration just with Crystal Bay Township and the DNR estimates of damages to public roads and trails,” says Matt Pollmann, the Lake County Emergency Management Director.
Matt Pollman is the person who writes the disaster plans for Lake County and will now oversee the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) process. He will make sure all the Townships have their questions answered and will submit the Townships’ preliminary damage assessments to the state.
A declaration of emergency has been claimed by the state, which frees up some money, and if it is declared a disaster federally, Pollman will go through the process with the federal government as well. “If it’s federally declared that will free up more money to help too. The state will pay 25 percent and FEMA will pay 75 percent so there should be no cost to the county,” he reports in a recent interview.
One of the biggest questions weighing on people’s minds is how to cover private property and small business damages. “To my knowledge Lake county has never received individual assistance from FEMA for private home owners. Unfortunately, there’s no money from the state or from the local government to help with private roads, private bridges, and private homes. That’s just not how we’re set up or how the Federal Government is set up. In the best case scenario, FEMA will do an IA (Individual Assistance), although it doesn’t happen very often. There’s a lot of thresholds you have to hit and it’s very unlikely any privately owned property damages from the recent flooding is going to qualify under individual assistance with FEMA,” commented Pollman.
Pollmann will continue to collect the reports from townships or local areas that have information about homes being destroyed. He encourages homeowners and businesses to give him a call and he can add their damages to a report, but also says unfortunately, it’s unlikely they will see much assistance by way of the Federal Government.
“I really wish there was something we had that could help individuals.” If you would like to send your private property damage documentation into Matt Pollman, he can be reached at (218) 220-6277 or by email at: matt.pollmann@co.lake.mn.us.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office has put out all the resources that they have on their end on their Facebook page. Homeowners can call FEMA and report their damage and apply for a small business loan that has a low interest rate that you pay overtime. But it is by no means “free money”. The Red Cross can help with certain things like short term food, clothing, and sometimes lodging. But there is currently no pot of money to help homeowners repair their homes.
Flooding insurance is commonly not offered or covered under home insurance plans in our local areas because we are technically not a flood zone. This may be a conversation to have with the state and FEMA to try and change insurance entities.
As far as timeline: It will be state driven. The state/federal governments coordinate with themselves and then they ask the counties after they put dates together what works for them best. There will be a preliminary meeting first, and then representatives will come down and have a meeting with local governments after that. “It could take awhile for anyone to see some money back, but that’s not to say that repairs can’t go ahead right now. FEMA doesn’t want us to wait until they can get down here and we can show them the damage… we have been documenting all the damage,” Pollman commented.
The labor for repairs will come from contractors the local government uses and that labor will be reimbursable.
In a nutshell, the declaration has been made, the county and townships will be able to start working with contractors to restore their roads, it’s all being documented, and state and (hopefully) federal funding will reimburse the Townships/Counties.
“Communities and residents across the Northland are facing an emergency situation with roads and bridges washed out, power outages, and ongoing flooding,” said Sen. Hauschild. “I appreciate the swift activation of the state emergency response, and am grateful for Governor Walz and his administration’s quick action in this situation. I have also spoken with Senator Klobuchar and Senator Smith, who pledged their support in navigating federal assistance,” stated a recent press release from Senator Hauschilds office after he and Governor Waltz surveyed damages from the recent storm.
Throughout the week, Sen. Hauschild has been in communication with local officials, community members, and first responders while working with state officials to help coordinate ongoing relief efforts. While praising the resiliency of residents of the Northland, Sen. Hauschild also pushed for urgent and immediate state aid.
“Throughout this week, I have been in constant communication with local officials, community members, and first responders who are working around the clock during these difficult circumstances,” said Sen. Hauschild. “They are doing incredible work, but the state needs to move quickly to support these efforts and make sure that our area has the assistance necessary to weather this storm.”
A reminder to sign up for Lake County Emergency Alerts by going to the county website www.co.lake.mn.us. Road closures and openings will be updated on the sheriff’s Facebook page, as well as guidance for homeowners seeking assistance and information following floods at https://www.facebook.com/LCSOMN/.
Thoughts and prayers go out to those individuals most affected by this terrible disaster.
