Bemidji mayor: No business, home untouched by storm

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: Our top story this afternoon-- storms swept through Northern Minnesota early this morning and caused power outages for more than 10,000 homes and businesses. That's on top of a devastating round of storms that brought hurricane-speed winds to the Bemidji Area early Saturday. Those storms took down trees, power lines, and buildings, and the damage sent people to emergency shelters as temperatures, as we all know, approached 90 degrees.

As of this morning, more than 4,000 customers in and around Bemidji were still without power. Thankfully, no injuries or deaths from these storms have been reported in Minnesota. Leaders of Beltrami County and the city of Bemidji declared states of emergency over this destruction. Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince joins me on the line now. Thank you very much for your time this afternoon, Mayor.

JORGE PRINCE: Absolutely. Glad to be able to join you.

NINA MOINI: It's been a difficult couple of weeks in the state of Minnesota generally, and then to have a major weather event happened as well. I'm curious to how you're doing, how the community is doing.

JORGE PRINCE: Well, obviously, no one expected a storm of this severity. We knew a storm was coming, but nothing that was going to have this type of effect. I will say that the best news of all was that there were no casualties here.

NINA MOINI: Yes.

JORGE PRINCE: We were able to get through it without any loss of life, which was nothing short of a miracle. But as far as the cleanup efforts, securing buildings, dealing with gas leaks, power lines, all those kinds of things, we found ourselves in the middle of that this weekend, but our community came together, our city staff, county staff, state staff all working together. And we've come a long way in two short days.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, everybody pitching in. And I do want to talk about some of the specifics of what you're working on. But for starters, mayor, would you try to give people an idea-- and perhaps you're still surveying-- but just how many businesses homes were damaged or destroyed, just the scope of the destruction so far?

JORGE PRINCE: It's really hard to put into words. I can tell you that there probably isn't a business in town that wasn't damaged in some way, shape, or form. And there wasn't a neighborhood that didn't experience some sort of damage ranging from moderate to severe. There are trees on homes, trees on cars. There are still places of our community that don't have power, trees that existed for decades gone, docks out somewhere in the middle of the lake. I could go on. So it's kind of hard to describe well, unless you see it with your own eyes.

NINA MOINI: It's more than you've experienced before, I would gather, because you declared a state of emergency Saturday evening. Have you been in contact with any state or federal officials? What is it looking like as far as a timeline for some perhaps help on the ground?

JORGE PRINCE: Well, we have received help already. Governor Walz's office has had staff here. I certainly have heard from pretty much all of our elected representatives that represent our community, starting with Representative Stauber. I've also heard from Senator Klobuchar, Senator Smith, a lot of our local elected leaders as well. And so that's been great. We have received mutual assistance from some of our surrounding communities, including Clearbrook and Pelican Rapids and Detroit Lakes and Garrison, and I could go on. Obviously, we've got a limited number of city staff. They were pulling incredible duty, and it was great to get some help from our communities around us to provide some respite for them.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and it takes years, in many cases, for people and homes and businesses recover from something like this. One thing you mentioned that one of our producers also spotted a warning about this from Beltrami County Emergency Management that had said on Facebook that crews are continuing to find gas leaks. And that is concerning for the public, mayor. Could you talk about what's going on there and what people should do if they smell gas?

JORGE PRINCE: Well, obviously, you want to call 911 and make us aware, and we'll get people out. In the very first hours, we probably had 100 calls for gas leaks. And so we were scrambling to get out there and be able to intervene. And we, again, have most of those under control. I think most of that's behind us. But as people come online and get home-- because there were some people who weren't home when all of this happened-- obviously, we're discovering new things.

NINA MOINI: And then obviously the power outages could go on for a while, something like 4,000 or so people still impacted. What are you hearing about the impacts of a power outage? Because the longer it goes on, the more people lose items or businesses lose items. What's being done about that?

JORGE PRINCE: Well, first off, I want to give a big thank you and just tremendous appreciation for all the linespeople who are here, both Otter Tail and Beltrami Electric called in resources from outside the community, and it's amazing how much power has already been restored. But obviously, when you lose power, for some people who are on wells, they lose water. Right away, they're not going to have that.

Also, with the heat that we've had, it's been really, I think, challenging for our citizens, especially our vulnerable populations, to try to make do. I mean, when you can't even plug in a fan in that heat. That's seriously concerning. And that is in part why we established an emergency shelter at our arena and convention center, the Sanford Center, to be able to provide a place for people to go, to provide water, to provide shelter and food, et cetera. But running out of power is a very serious, serious effect on everyone.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. And then those temperatures on top of everything. Could you describe where cleanup efforts are at that are happening right now? Where do you even begin to start with something like this? And then is there a way that others can help? Are you seeking volunteers? Or are you saying no, please stay out of the area. What could people do?

JORGE PRINCE: So as far as cleanup goes, I think we have most of our major roadways and side streets open now. But of course, those were temporary measures, just get the main trees out of the way so people can pass. Now we're coming back and we're picking up and cleaning up all of those trees and debris that was pushed to the side to make way.

We have a group here, a nonprofit group called Community Resource Connections, and their information is available online. They're coordinating volunteers because we've obviously had people reach out to say they want to help with debris cleanup and those kinds of things, and they're the folks to talk to. And I think to this point, so long as we can keep it organized, we continue to welcome help.

NINA MOINI: OK. And mayor, do you want to just get some information out there or just tell people what help is available for the people who have perhaps lost homes? It's different if it's a commercial versus a residential property. But if you were to tell people the first steps or remind people of what to do in a situation like that, what help is available for people?

JORGE PRINCE: Well, there's some general help. Obviously, I mentioned our shelter at the Sanford Center, for those people that need immediate assistance. We have that there with water, food, supplies, a place to stay, et cetera. We are also working with the United Way. There's been a fund that's created with the Bemidji Area United Way. So if people are looking to donate and help that way, those resources are going to find their way to individual citizens.

And then, obviously, if you've got an issue or a claim, you obviously want to be talking to your insurance company right now. I suspect that there will be large teams of adjusters and insurance-type folks that are in our city now and will be moving forward to assess claims and assess damage and those kinds of things. And we're working with our state and federal officials to try to bring whatever resources we can to bear from state and federal dollars to assist people who need in regard to lost housing and those kinds of things.

NINA MOINI: And it's just so great that no injuries have been reported. Mayor, are there people who are perhaps still unaccounted for, or are you pretty confident that everyone's accounted for?

JORGE PRINCE: To this point, we have a pretty high level of confidence that we've made it through without having lost anyone. Obviously, as the days go by, we get more and more confident in that. But as we sit today, I'm unaware of any loss of life.

NINA MOINI: All right, that's very good news. Thank you very much for your time, mayor.

JORGE PRINCE: Thank you for allowing me to visit with you today. And again, I just want to say thank you to all those who have shown support to our community. It is deeply appreciated.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. That's Jorge Prince, Mayor of Bemidji.