State extends deadline for flood aid

Mary Tingerthal
Housing Commissioner Mary Tingerthal, shown in a 2011 file photo, said some homeowners affected by June floods have been reluctant to ask for help.
MPR Photo/Dan Olson

Residents in northeastern Minnesota who suffered property damage from flash floods in June have more time to apply for loans to pay for repairs.

The state's Quick Start Disaster Recovery Program will now take applications until Jan. 31.

Housing Commissioner Mary Tingerthal said some homeowners have been reluctant to ask for help.

"We were told by several of the caseworkers that this is a part of Minnesota that really goes to the independent streak," she said. "A lot of people who thought they could do it on their own and were reluctant to ask for help, and now they're realizing that it's cold and there might be problems that were a little bigger than they thought they were, they're realizing that they may need some help."

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Tingerthal said there has been a late burst of interest in the program.

"There's recently been a last push of outreach that has brought an unexpectedly large number of new potential applicants to the table," she said, "and they were really concerned at the administrators and Lutheran Social Service that they would simply run out of time and not be able to process everyone."

The program offers no-interest loans of up to $40,000. The loans can be forgiven if the owner remains in the home for 10 years.

An estimated 1,700 homes were damaged in the floods.

So far, officials have approved 93 state loans for $1.4 million in home repairs. The Legislature made about $12 million available for housing.

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