Central ND News

Gov. Kelly Armstrong has declared a statewide disaster in North Dakota following severe storms on August 7-8 that caused significant damage to the state's electrical infrastructure, homes, businesses, and agriculture.

The storms produced tornadoes, large hail, and winds reaching 70 to 100 mph. These conditions led to widespread tree damage, severe impacts to structures, and power outages affecting more than 16,000 residents in south central and eastern parts of the state.

Armstrong's executive order activates the State Emergency Operations Plan and enables the state to request a presidential major disaster declaration. If approved, this would make federal resources available for recovery efforts and help lessen the financial impact on taxpayers and utility customers.

“While local jurisdictions were able to handle the initial response, the recovery from these storms has exceeded local and state capacity, with electric cooperatives especially hit hard,” Armstrong said. He added that damage to electrical infrastructure alone is estimated at nearly $6 million.

This latest declaration follows another statewide disaster order for storms on June 20-21. That earlier event involved more than 20 tornadoes, resulted in four deaths, and caused over $11 million in damage to public infrastructure as well as substantial harm to utilities, grain bins, homes, and other private property. The governor’s request for a presidential major disaster declaration related to those storms remains under review.