State Officials To Assess Storm Damage In Brainerd Lakes Area
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- State officials are headed to the Brainerd Lakes Area on Monday and Tuesday to assess the damage after severe storms tore through the area earlier this month.
Residents in the area will find out if the damage was enough for counties to qualify for disaster assistance. The July 12 storms hit the heart of resort country.
The severe storms brought high winds, hail and heavy rain to the area. It brought down thousands of trees, damaged buildings and left 17,000 people without power or air conditioning. Resorts in the area, including Madden's and Cragun's, had to temporarily close after downed trees cause damage, knocked out power and forced the golf course operations to be temporarily closed. One couple's wedding plans at Madden's resort even had to change after managers there said they couldn't get the resort cleaned up and operations back to normal in time.
Gallery: Brainerd Lakes Area Hit Hard By Storms
State officials toured the area a little more than a week ago to get a sense of the damage. Most businesses in the area were back open after about a week.
The Brainerd International Raceway also suffered extensive damage because of the storms. High winds knocked down some of their bleachers and twisted metal around with ease.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Homeland Security will be conducting damage assessments in Cass, Crow Wing and Todd counties Monday and Tuesday.
