Governor Armstrong Requests Presidential Disaster Declaration for June Storm

(Photo provided by governor’s office via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Gov. Kelly Armstrong has asked President Donald Trump’s administration to designate the series of tornadoes that swept North Dakota on June 20-21 as a major disaster. If granted, the designation will open up federal financial assistance to help North Dakota communities recover from the storm.

A preliminary cost analysis of the storm, which consisted of more than 20 tornadoes and intense wind, estimated it caused $11.5 million in damages, according to a Monday announcement from Armstrong’s office. One tornado took the lives of three people in Enderlin and power outages caused by the storm led to the death of a fourth man in Stutsman County.

Armstrong has submitted a request through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to designate the storms as a disaster in 19 North Dakota counties: Barnes, Burleigh, Cass, Eddy, Emmons, Foster, Grant, Griggs, Kidder, McLean, Morton, Oliver, Ransom, Sheridan, Sioux, Steele, Stutsman, Traill and Wells.

Oliver County sustained an estimated $2.6 million in damages. Cass County has reported costs totaling about $1.5 million, while storm damage in Barnes County is estimated at $1.3 million, according to the governor’s office. The impact in Stutsman County is roughly $1.1 million.