Dayton seeks more flood aid from feds

Gov. Mark Dayton has requested federal assistance to help individual home and business owners who suffered property damage in last month's record flooding in northeast Minnesota.

Dayton sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting what's known as individual assistance for residents of six counties in northeast Minnesota, as well as the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

The request came after state and federal officials spent a week assessing damage to more than 1,100 homes in the region. Of those homes, they found that 17 were destroyed and 154 suffered major damage.

The president has already made a federal disaster declaration to provide assistance to communities to repair public infrastructure like roads and utilities. FEMA and the state set up a field office in Duluth on Thursday to help local governments with their applications for aid.

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