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Hubbard County declares state of emergency, approves updated emergency operations plan
Summary
After a severe windstorm, the county declared a state of emergency, approved an updated Emergency Operations Plan with minor changes, and discussed damage estimates, FEMA thresholds, debris management and public guidance on scammers and assistance resources.
Hubbard County commissioners declared a local state of emergency related to a late-June windstorm and approved an updated county Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) with recommended changes to ratification and cancellation language.
Emergency Management staff reported early infrastructure damage estimates already exceed $330,000 countywide, not including pending utility-company assessments. "We're over $330,000 already," Emergency Management staff said during the meeting, and noted they were still awaiting figures from utilities and some townships.
Why it matters: the county's declaration triggers a process with the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) system (WebEOC) for consolidated damage reporting. County staff explained thresholds that guide state and federal assistance: they told the board the state guideline for county-level infrastructure damage is a little over $50,000 and described the larger federal disaster threshold the governor would consider (the county reported the federal whole-state threshold as just under $10,800,000). Staff emphasized that FEMA will only undertake private-property assistance after a presidential disaster declaration and state-level thresholds are met.
The board approved a formal declaration of emergency and the motion carried. Commissioners were advised that if the state forwards the event to the federal level and a federal declaration is made, private-property assessments and individual assistance processes would follow.
County staff also discussed debris management and public expectations. Emergency Management and highway staff said county resources are limited: commercial or large-scale roadside debris pickup countywide is not feasible with existing crews. Residents in the City of Bemidji were receiving limited assistance through local community resource efforts, but county staff warned there is no countywide curbside debris pickup. Staff urged residents to be cautious of contractors and scammers offering upfront payment for tree removal and recommended verifying insurance and permits.
The board also approved the county's updated Emergency Operations Plan after commissioners requested two clarifications: (1) that a county chair's emergency declaration must be ratified by the full board within three days (Minnesota Statutes referenced during discussion), and (2) that the board may cancel a declared emergency by majority vote. Staff said they would incorporate those sentences and distribute the final PDF for signatures (DocuSign was offered as an option).
What the board approved (actions): a local state of emergency declaration for Hubbard County and approval of the updated Emergency Operations Plan with the requested ratification and cancellation clarifications. Both motions carried.
Public guidance included urging residents to verify tree-service companies' insurance and not to pay large upfront deposits, and to seek assistance information from the American Red Cross and United Way where available. Staff said transfer-station hours at a specified location had been expanded temporarily to accept debris-only loads and that they would post updates.
Speakers quoted in this article appear in the speakers list below and participated in the emergency-management segment of the meeting.
