About a year after tornadoes struck Freeborn County, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has announced it has approved an additional $312,000 to aid people with debris removal.

Freeborn County Administrator John Kluever said this is on top of the more than $200,000 the county received last summer.

Freeborn County will be sending out letters to people who previously applied for funds, letting them know more funding has been approved. Adding up the new funding with the previous money received, applicants will now be able to receive about 70 percent of their total requests for debris cleanup.

No new applications are being accepted.

Kluever said during the application period that ended in October 2010 for the previous round of funds, the county received more than $700,000 in requests for debris removal.

Assistance covers the cost of debris removal, including what has been paid to remove or dispose of debris or the estimated cost of debris that has yet to be removed. Only residents who received damage between June 17 and June 26, 2010, were eligible.

Residents were required to have insurance and a letter from their insurance agency stating their policy did not cover all or part of the cost of debris removal.

Funding for flood debris cleanup

Kluever said the Department of Employment and Economic Development also approved about $82,000 to aid residents with cleaning up debris from the Sept. 22 floods.

A letter will be sent out to people who have notified the county of damages from flooding, letting them know about the application process.

Just as with the tornado debris removal, people will be required to submit proof of insurance, proof that the insurance did not coverall or part of the debris removal, or estimates of what the removal would cost.

If the work has already been completed, there would also need to be documentation that the work was completed.

Kluever said the application deadline has not yet been set, but if people have questions they can contact his office at 377-5116.

He noted that the additional funds could get delayed in the case of a potential state shutdown.