Bemidji June 21 Storm: Recovery and Relief Efforts Underway

Recovery efforts started nearly immediately after Saturday’s severe storm in Bemidji, where food and water were handed out and shelter was provided to those without power or with damaged homes.

One entity that looked to kick-start those efforts and get help the community get back on its feet is the United Way of Bemidji Area.

“We started this fund for disaster recovery and relief,” said Denae Alamano, the Bemidji United Way’s executive director. “We’re assessing with our partner agencies right now, what are their needs? What are their clients needs? And how can this fund support their work as we all recover from what has happened here?”

The United Way’s disaster relief fund started off with a $15,000 contribution from the Northwest Minnesota Foundation, and the fund will also be open to public donations. Other relief organizations, including the Red Cross and Salvation Army, also came into town in the wake of the storm and set up an overnight shelter at the Sanford Center to provide food, water, and provide shelter for those in need.

“And we’re still going to be doing that—going forward [Monday], [Tuesday], and Wednesday we’ll do breakfast, lunch, dinner,” stated Beltrami County Public Health Tech Alex Monson. But now we’re closing at six, so we won’t have [an] overnight [shelter].

The end of the overnight stays comes as more and more power is returned to the city. The power outages affected more than just houses, as Sanford Health in Bemidji also had to spend 16 hours on backup generators, during which the steady stream of hospital and emergency room patients did not stop.

“Weather-related injuries, a portion of those happened during the actual weather event,” explained Dr. Dan Hoody, Sanford Bemidji’s chief medical officer. “A significant portion can happen in the cleanup from the weather event. And so it’s a good reminder for people to, if you’re having trouble navigating through the cleanup at your homes, to certainly call for help. If you have downed power lines, to make sure that you’re calling the power company and not getting close to those, so we try to mitigate that second wave of potential weather-related injuries in the cleanup phase.

“Right now, a lot of the needs that Community Resource Connections is seeing are based around elderly and/or disabled low-income people who really do need the help to be able to clean up their yards and their homes,” said Alamano.

The full extent of the impact of the storm is not yet known, but recovery efforts will be going for the foreseeable future. People can donate towards the United Way’s Disaster Relief Fund on their website. Anyone who wants to volunteer can also fill out a form on their website or call their office at 218-444-8929. Those needing assistance can call Community Resource Connections at 218-333-0880 or visit crcinform.org.

The original state of emergency for Beltrami County was issued on Saturday, but in a special meeting on Monday, the county board extended that state of emergency for 30 days due to the extent of local damage. The next steps in the storm damage recovery process will come out tomorrow, as Gov. Tim Walz will be visiting Beltrami County to survey damage with other emergency managers and local officials.