St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) -Governor Mark Dayton has decided to appeal the federal government’s decision to deny disaster assistance to help cover the cost of repairing damage to homes and other private property from the torrential rains and flooding that occurred across southern Minnesota in late September.

President Obama earlier this week issued a major disaster declaration for nine counties that provides assistance for repairing the public infrastructure and the costs incurred by local governments in responding to the disaster.

State officials are asking homeowners in Blue Earth, Freeborn, Hennepin, Le Sueur, Rice, Steele and Waseca Counties to report any damage to their home from the storm and resulting flooding that hit September 21st and September 22nd. Teams from the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be conducting additional damage assessments starting next Tuesday.

Residents in other counties with damage from the storms are being asked to report it to their County emergency management, noting the disaster declaration request could be expanded if sufficient damage is documented in those areas.

A preliminary assessment conducted last month found over 1100 homes suffered damage that resulted in over $10 million in losses to individuals and families. Since then, over 600 other homes with damage have been identified and many were destroyed or had major damage.

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