STATE OF MINNESOTA

Office of Governor Mark Dayton

116 Veterans Service Building 20 West 12th Street Saint Paul, MN 55155
August 8, 2014
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
June 2014 was a record-setting month for rainfall in Minnesota. On a statewide basis, it
was not only the wettest June ever recorded, but established a new high for any month of the year.
More than 90 climate stations reported more than 10 inches of rain for the month, causing severe
flooding from southwest Minnesota to the Canadian border.
Thank you for your swift Presidential Disaster Declaration for 32 Minnesota counties and
for FEMA's good work this week to finalize the damage assessments in Lyon, Watonwan, and
Wright Counties. We understand that these three counties have now met their indicators and we
are requesting that they be added to the declaration.
However, we are concerned that FEMA has not finalized damage assessments in the three
largest counties: Dakota, Ramsey, and Hennepin. These counties sustained significant damage
during this summer's historic flooding. Our experienced Homeland Security and Emergency
Management staff have identified damage, which FEMA disputes.
I respectfully ask you to direct FEMA to recognize and finalize Homeland Security and
Emergency Management's damage assessments in the outstanding counties, and declare a federal
disaster in Lyon, Watonwan, Wright, Dakota, Ramsey, and Hennepin Counties.
Thank you for your consideration.
Si erely,
Mark Dayton
Governor
cc: Secretary Jeh Johnson, Homeland Security
Mr. Warren Riley, Federal Coordinating Officer, FEMA
Voice: (651) 201-3400 or (800) 657-3717 Fax: (651) 797-1850 MN Relay (800) 627-3529
Website: http://mn.gov/governor/ An Equal Opportunity Employer
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