County declares state emergency after storms, cites $121,100 in preliminary damages

The County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a resolution declaring a state emergency for damage resulting from severe storms, heavy rains and tornadoes on June 25, 2025, after staff told the board the county had submitted $121,100 in preliminary eligible costs and expected that total to rise.

A county staff member working the damage assessment told the board that "to qualify for a state level disaster, the threshold is $45,469.48. As of walking into this meeting, I have a total of $121,100 being submitted. And I expect that to rise." The staff member said submissions so far covered eight townships, the County Highway Department, MnDOT and a private contractor, MyEnergy.

The staff member read National Weather Service findings to the board: three tornadoes were confirmed in the county, including an EF‑1 with peak winds of about 100 mph that traveled roughly 6.47 miles, an EF‑0 near Hokah with peak winds near 75 mph that was on the ground about 0.11 miles, and a third EF‑0 that crossed into the county from Allegany County and remained on the ground about 3.64 miles.

The staff member told the board that each affected entity must have a project threshold of $4,000 per damage category to qualify; the three categories with current submissions were debris removal, road and bridge work, and public utilities.

A motion to approve the emergency‑declaration resolution was made, seconded and adopted. The board recorded the resolution as number 20517. The board did not record individual roll‑call votes in the public record beyond the ayes called at the meeting.

County staff told commissioners they expect additional cost submissions and will continue compiling documentation to support the state‑level disaster request.