Road to flood recovery continues in O'Brien Co.

Though floodwaters receded two months ago, disaster recovery continues to progress in O'Brien County as autumn nears.

Emergency Management Director Jared Johnson reported last Friday that O'Brien County has had 757 valid registrations for FEMA Individual Assistance since June's floods. With the application deadline recently extended to Oct. 22, he expected that number to grow slightly as appeals get settled and late applications are filed.

"It was just so widespread, and every community in the county was affected in some way," Johnson said of the flood. "It was a blanket of water that hit the entire county."

Johnson applauded FEMA's response in O'Brien County, noting the designation for Individual Assistance was a key factor to jumpstart recovery efforts immediately.

He said FEMA officials visited around 3,000 homes in O'Brien County affecting approximately half of the population.

"It was pretty fast, especially on the FEMA end," he said. "It usually doesn't go that fast. It's usually a lot slower."

FEMA Individual Assistance designations have been historically rare in O'Brien County. The last decree came in October of 2010 following severe storms, flooding and tornadoes. Other designations came before that in 1993, 1969 and 1965.

Johnson reported his office's phone has significantly quieted since the frenzied aftermath of the flood.

"Most work now is between FEMA and individuals," he said. "It's nothing like the first few weeks where we were getting multiple questions all the time."

For those who received damage, work continues.

"There are a lot of people still working on repairs and doing what they need to do to get things wrapped up before winter comes," said Johnson.

• Lessons learned

Johnson said both he and leaders in each O'Brien County community learned lessons from the flood. One of the big takeaways was the need to have existing equipment like pumps on hand prior large rain events, as emergency resources can get strained or isolated during flooding disasters.

"The county and cities, they did the best they could. Nobody was expecting that much water at one time," Johnson said. "But I think it's clear more [equipment] is needed. What happens when you need a pump but can't get to it because the roads are closed?"

Individually, Johnson said financial preparedness was key for future flooding events.

"If it's not wide scale like this time, FEMA is not coming in and it's all on you," he said. "Review your insurance coverage and look for gaps. This has created a really big financial challenge for some people, and it's important to have financial emergency preparedness."

Some local homes received foundation damage from hydrostatic pressure due to the saturated ground. Johnson said it was important for local homeowners to get their foundations protected and insured to prevent the potential for future financial ruin.

"People need to be careful to read the details of the policy," he said. "With the foundation, it could turn into an extremely difficult financial situation if your house needs to be lifted and walls repoured."

Johnson encouraged people to follow O'Brien County Emergency Management's Facebook page for flood recovery resources and other disaster preparedness tips.

"I think there is going to be a lot of lessons learned from this," he said. "It seems like these disasters are happening more frequently. It's been a crazy summer. These three months have felt like they've taken a year."