FEMA provides $5 Million to North Dakota electric co-operatives for early-winter storm repairs

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide approximately $5 million to two electric co-operatives in North Dakota to help cover the costs of repairs in the wake of an early-winter storm last October.

Federal disaster aid totalling just shy of $4 million has been made available to Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative to restore power lines damaged by the storm and to replace utility poles, and approximately $1.2 million has been made available to Slope Electric Cooperative for similar damage, notes a statement issued Wednesday by FEMA.

Additional funding has been provided to jurisdictions in several other counties to pay for debris removal, road repairs and restoration of public facilities such as schools, the FEMA statement notes.

The federal share provided to all applicants statewide for the October storm – 33 projects were funded under the disaster declaration – is $6.2 million. FEMA’s Public Assistance Program provides funding to local government jurisdictions and eligible private non-profits for the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged infrastructure, as well as costs incurred for disaster clean-up or emergency actions taken to protect lives or property.

North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple announced in late October that FEMA had approved his request for a federal disaster declaration to help rural electric co-operatives and local governments in seven counties recover from major damages caused by the early-winter storm. “The storm created widespread power outages and caused major damage to power systems and other infrastructure,” Dalrymple said in a statement.

The storm struck southwestern and south central North Dakota on Oct. 4 and 5, bringing with it blizzard conditions that included almost two feet of snow and wind gusts reaching 50 miles per hour.

The storm downed roughly 2,000 utility poles and transmission lines, and caused major damage to roads and other public infrastructure, as well as livestock and crop losses. A preliminary damage assessment by federal, state and local officials at the time indicated the storm caused an estimated $7.98 million in damages to power utilities and public infrastructure.