New Richland is ‘out of the crisis’ after September floods
After about 700 square miles of south and southeastern Minnesota was flooded with 6 inches or more of rain in 24 hours, senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, along with Rep. Brad Finstad, asked President Donald Trump and his administration to approve the state of Minnesota’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration for Individual Assistance. Gov. Tim Walz’s request for disaster assistance for the period of Sept. 18-20 covers Fillmore, Houston, Steele and Waseca Counties. New Richland, a city of 1,200, was flooded with about 9 inches of rain, which forced evacuations during the Sept. 19 flood. The Waseca County Board of Commissioners had declared a state of emergency after the flood. “In the city of New Richland alone, more than three-quarters of homes are damaged and residents of a skilled nursing facility were evacuated and unable to return to the facility,” the Democrats and Republican wrote in a letter to Trump on Nov. 3. “This storm event has been assessed as at least as destructive as the July 2026 mega-rain that many of these communities experienced and were recovering from just months prior.” Minnesota Realtors and the REALTORS Relief Foundation announced in October that a $70,000 grant was available
