U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith sent a joint letter to the Biden Administration, supporting the Red Lake Nation’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration
Severe storms this summer produced two tornadoes that swept through Beltrami County, largely hitting the Red Lake Reservation.
These storms damaged numerous households and tribal buildings, including the Pow Wow grounds.
“The Red Lake Tribal Council has determined that the damage caused by these weather events is beyond the capacity of the tribe to address on their own,” the senators wrote.
“The Red Lake Nation has estimated the costs of debris cleanup, home repairs, and replacement of tribal buildings and vehicles to be almost $7 million.”
“The Red Lake Nation currently reports a housing shortage of 20 percent among their 9,000 members and with winter rapidly approaching in northern Minnesota, repairing households that were damaged in the storm is a critically urgent need.”
“It is for these reasons that we strongly encourage you to issue a disaster declaration in a timely manner. We are confident that the Red Lake Nation will recover and rebuild, but we urge you to make the federal government a full partner in that effort,” they concluded.
