Cleaning up and assessing the damage in northern Minn.
DULUTH, Minn. -- Parts of northeastern Minnesota continue to battle high water, while others spent the week cleaning up and totaling the damage.
The state says the damage to public infrastructure from flooding nearly two weeks ago is at least $108 million.
On Friday, Gov. Mark Dayton signed a letter asking the federal government for disaster assistance. The governor also plans to hold a special legislative session to address the costs and other issues associated with the flooding.
Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon, who is from Duluth, says the region will recover.
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"The message we want the community to have," Prettner Solon says, "is that we have a plan and that people need to have patience. But we have a plan, an orderly progression of how we will address this disaster in our community. And if we don't have the answers, we have a plan for how to get the answers."
Officials are still tallying up the damage to private property.
Dave Montgomery, the chief administrative officer for the city of Duluth, says the city is rebuilding and at the same time putting resources into helping one of its hardest hit neighborhoods.
"We still have people in Fond du Lac under water and that is our prime concern is making sure that community gets back up and running again," Montgomery says. "But basically identifying the projects, prioritizing them in order of urgency and importance and just going after them one-by-one."
According to the Aitkin County Sheriff's Office water levels are high there as well. Hundreds of homes near Big Sandy Lake have been damaged by flooding, many under water.
State officials say the damage to roads, sewers and other public infrastructure in 13 counties and three Indian reservations is at least $108 million.
