FEMA funds now available for areas damaged by late May storms

Krystal Frasier KSTP

A building is destroyed Monday, May 30, 2022, after a suspected tornado plowed through Forada, Minnesota. (KSTP)

Federal emergency money is now available to a large portion of Minnesota following severe weather in late May.

Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed a declaration that allows federal emergency money to be distributed to state, tribal and municipal recovery efforts, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations.

Wednesday morning, FEMA announced the money was available, saying it is available on a cost-sharing basis.

The money can be used for emergency work, as well as the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the weather, which happened on the Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend.

As previously reported, multiple warnings were issued across the state as tornadoes touched down.

The National Weather Service gave the Forada tornado an EF-2 classification, meaning wind speeds of up to 120 mph were possible.

Meanwhile, the NWS designated the Plato and Eagle Bend tornadoes as EF-1.

New: – @fema announced just a short time ago in a release that federal emergency aid has been made available to Minnesota to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in areas affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding from May 29-30, 2022.
— Eric Chaloux (@EricChalouxKSTP) August 10, 2022

The counties eligible for funds include:

Aitkin
Big Stone
Cass
Chippewa
Crow Wing
Douglas
Grant
Itasca
Kanabec
Kandiyohi
Lac qui Parle
Lyon
Nobles
Pine
Pope
Renville
Rock
Stevens
Swift
Todd
Traverse
Wadena
Yellow Medicine