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Tim Pugmire
St. Paul, Minn.

Obama declares emergency in 8 counties

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President Obama issued a disaster declaration Monday for parts of Minnesota damaged by flooding, but only eight of 51 counties were on the list.

Gov. Mark Dayton said it was his call to submit a partial request in order to get the federal money rolling to the state as quickly as possible. The list is expected to grow when the remaining counties complete damage assessments.

A special session of the Legislature might be needed to pay the state share of the disaster relief. But Dayton said he still doesn't know if or when that would happen.

"I'm waiting until we have a sense of the full scope of the needs and what their timetable will be and when the FEMA money will get to them," Dayton said.

The damage amount is expected to exceed the money set aside in a new state fund, which was established to provide disaster relief without a special session.