Sep. 8—ST. PAUL — The governor has authorized emergency assistance for

Kandiyohi

,

Pope

, and

Stevens

counties in west central Minnesota due to damage caused by severe thunderstorms and a tornado from July 25-26.

Those

areas experienced significant damage

caused by severe thunderstorms, high winds, and a tornado, and Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday said in a news release that the state's emergency management team is working with those counties to address damages.

The July 25-26 storm reports to the National Weather Service showed a path from the eastern Dakotas to western Minnesota.

According to West Central Tribune archives, Kandiyohi County Emergency Management set up an incident command in New London from July 26 to Aug. 2.

A tornado there produced maximum winds of 85 mph on a path of 1.4 miles and a width of 75 yards, according to National Weather Service information shared with the Kandiyohi County Board after the storm. Lasting two minutes, from 11:02 to 11:04 p.m. July 25, the tornado began about 1.2 miles west of New London and headed east into town before it dissipated.

According to the statement from the governor's office, Walz's declaration authorizes use of the Disaster Assistance Contingency Fund for eligible applicants, specified by state statute as local governments, state agencies or utility cooperatives.

The

report made to the Kandiyohi County Board in August

said power outages were a major consequence of the storm and damage to the power grid was expected to be a large portion of the damages eligible to receive state disaster funding, according to West Central Tribune archives.

The governor's office in the news release said climate change has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, and the impacts to outdated infrastructure and roadways have caused millions of dollars in damages statewide.