Jul. 3—BEMIDJI — Nearly all facets of the June 21 storm recovery process were addressed during a
Beltrami County
Board of Commissioners work session on Tuesday.
While a continual and laborious process, Tuesday’s work session aimed to provide an update on recovery efforts as well as inform the public of preparation ahead of the storm that allowed for an appropriate response.
This marked the commission’s first meeting since it
extended a State of Emergency for the county at a June 23 special meeting.
“It became very evident that early that week (leading up to the storm), we were in for something that was going to be big that weekend, and it happened,” Beltrami County Emergency Management Director Chris Muller said. “We didn’t want it, but we were prepared and that is a good thing. As tragic as it is for our community, what’s celebrated is that we were prepared and nobody got hurt.”
Muller detailed communications sent out to the public prior to the storm, noting a peculiarity with the timing of the area’s risk issuance for bad weather by the National Weather Service.
“Being at an enhanced risk two days out is relatively rare,” Muller said. “That’s something that you normally see hours or a day before, not two days before.”
Vastly altering its landscape, the storm swept through the Bemidji area in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 21,
producing wind speeds up to 120 miles per hour — equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane
or EF2 tornado.
The recovery process would soon begin, but having exhausted the immediate area’s emergency response crews, it was clear that additional help would be needed.
“The devastation was something like we haven’t seen in very recent history,” Beltrami County Administrator Tom Barry said. “As the sun rose, it was clear that this catastrophic event would require additional resources. The county was just not resourced to take on this event on its own.”
Barry noted that representatives from the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency were quick to respond as well as other agencies at the state and local levels.
“The city, county and state resources immediately began clearing debris,” Barry said. “It was very important for us to at least get most of the roads passable for additional emergency services that might be needed and that happened pretty quickly.”
Structural damage to hundreds of homes necessitated the opening of a post-storm resource center at the old First National Bank building as well as an emergency shelter, setting up shop inside the Sanford Center in partnership with the American Red Cross and Salvation Army.
Such a development proved serendipitous.
“It’s ironic that the opening of the shelter in a catastrophic storm event was something that we had trained on simply two months ago,” Barry said, “so that was a very smooth operation for us and the team.”
Providing a safe haven for those displaced by the storm, Public Health Director Amy Bowles commended Sanford Center General Manager Bobby Anderson for his willingness to open the space for the most vulnerable.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for the support from Bobby,” Bowles said. “As soon as I called him and said I needed him at the Sanford Center, he said ‘I’ll meet you there.'”
The Sanford Center provided basic necessities including meals, water and overnight shelter for those requiring it.
“One of our biggest concerns on that first and going into the second day was the access to food,” Bowles added, “and being able to get enough food to the people in the building and our first responders needing a place for a hot meal.”
Bowles and Anderson teamed up once securing breakfast items to serve roughly 500 people.
Due to the cancellation of the 2025 Loop the Lake Festival,
the Sanford Center received donations of hot dogs, cookies and water to serve as its second meal.
Preliminary numbers show that the Sanford Center served a total of 4,838 residents from 3,253 households, giving out 1,050 meals, 164 people spending the night and 400 volunteer hours being put in.
The clean-up process has been quite the task and continues to be. Public Works Director Bruce Hasbargen noted considerable workload in terms of
solid waste management at the Beltrami County Demolition Landfill
and a second site at Pine Products.
“We directed the commercial haulers there to begin with, but once we got our feet under us at the demolition landfill, we closed that down,” he said. “There’s a cost to having these sites open.”
According to Hasbargen, an estimated 2,500 vehicles came through the demolition landfill the Monday after the storm alone. While considerable progress has been made in terms of clean-up, Hasbargen reminded the board of the long road ahead.
“Overall, I’d like to say we’re past the peak rush of people bringing material in,” he said, “but it’s going to be a drawn-out process.”
Following other updates, commissioners thanked all staff for their work in the face of adversity as recovery continues.
“I always brag that Beltrami County has staff that are second to none,” District 4 Commissioner Tim Sumner said. “This past week has proven that you really stepped up when we needed you guys the most, and I appreciate everything that you’ve done.”
The full work session can be viewed on the
county’s YouTube channel.
The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15.