Dayton hears of needs on tour of flood zone

THOMSON, Minn. -- Gov. Mark Dayton on Friday toured flood-damaged towns in Carlton County southwest of Duluth, where local officials briefed him on the needs of communities and residents.

Dayton, who visited Thomson, Carlton and Cloquet, said he was impressed by how people had pulled together to clean up after the flooding.

Local officials told him that senior citizens and others will need help replacing furnaces and hot water heaters.

Dayton sent a letter to President Barack Obama this week requesting individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help those homeowners. But he says it's not certain whether that assistance will come.

"People who have more expertise than I say it's sort of on the knife's edge," Dayton said. "So I intend to blow a couple times and hope that we can tilt it in the right direction."

FEMA is paying 75 percent of the cost to repair damage to public infrastructure. Dayton says that price tag could grow to $150 million.